Wednesday, January 28, 2015

We are the world!

An album cover with "We Are the World" spelled out across the left and bottom in papier-mâché-style. To the top right of the cover is "USA for Africa" in blue text, under which names are listed against a white background.
Today is the 30th anniversary of the recording of We Are the World, the biggest charity single of all time.  The nonprofit group USA for Africa raised $75,000,000 in 1985 to fight poverty on the African continent.

As I watched this clip from USA Today, (do read the article and enjoy the famous artists recording the song) I couldn't help think about all the work done by Days for Girls volunteers around the world in 6 years.  We still are the world, and I am so grateful to be able to be a part of improving the lives of many girls and women I'll never know, increasing their opportunities for education and a better future.
                                                                                                                            Photo by Sienna Gray     
Every time I go to the Days for Girls International website or the Days for Girls Facebook page, I find something that's new/interesting/compelling.  If their goals tug at your heartstrings too, please join us in our efforts.  We need people to help make the kit components, donate funds and/or supplies, and spread the word.

Many of us sew, but there's plenty to do for those who don't.

Some ideas are in the December 1, 2014 post of this blog.  Days for Girls has very specific guidelines for what we use for/in our kits, so please read it before you buy or donate something.

Other tasks are:
      Washing and ironing fabric before it is cut out
      Cutting out shield parts on the Accuquilt die cutter at Our Sewing Room
      Fundraising
      Ask your co-workers, church, sewing, bridge or bunko group, etc. to donate colored washcloths, Ziploc gallon freezer bags, or girls' cotton underpants  (Again, see the guidelines for specifics--sizes, styles, colors and restrictions in the December 1 post).
      Somebody with a connection to a school could organize a panty, washcloth or Ziploc drive.  
      Some high school students need community service hours and senior project ideas.  So many jobs can be done by teens who aren't accomplished sewers.

Do you have more ideas?  Let's talk!

Our next workday is Sunday, February 15, 10:00-5:00 at Our Sewing Room.  Bring pins, a good pair of scissors, a seam ripper,  and if you'd like, your own sewing machine with a bobbin or two.







Thursday, January 22, 2015

Our wonderful Eugene/Springfield team!

Thanks to the loyal volunteers who worked on kit components at Our Sewing Room last Sunday while Mary Jo and I were not available!  It's so nice to see the inventory being built up again.  You are such an amazing group to work with--the donors of money or supplies, those of you who sew on our Sunday workdays, those of you who find it more convenient to work at home, and those of you who wear many of these hats.  All of your help adds up to changing the lives of girls.  

Donna sewed with us during the summer, and has continued in Arizona this winter.  She's made 407 flannel T&T liners since leaving Eugene.  This colorful stack of 168 liners represents just her January 1-18 sewing!



If you'd like to be on the mailing list for the Days for Girls International newsletter, go to their webpage and click on Get Our Newsletter.  You might want to send the link to your friends too.

The January edition that just came out a few days ago has information about distributions in different countries.  It has a great report from Gwen about distributing our kits  in Kenya last fall:


From Oregon to Kenya   
(there are photos in the DFG Newsletter that didn't want to go on this blog)                            
                                
In 2003, my husband John and I started an NGO that supports community development in Kenya. Based in Junction City, Oregon, Friends of Kenya Schools and Wildlife (FKSW) partners with Kenyan NGO, Network for Eco-Farming in Africa (NECOFA) which is based in Molo. Together, we support activities that focus on clean water, income generation, health and hygiene, food and nutrition and education in 5 rural communities. In all of these communities, we have seen the need for feminine hygiene materials and I was so excited when I learned last summer about Days for Girls and that there is a team here in Eugene! I met with the team at their workday last June and asked if they would provide 100 kits for my trip to Kenya in September. I talked about our work in Kenya and showed them photos of some of the girls who would be the recipients of the kits they were making. The team members were thrilled to have a direct connection to the girls and at the end of August, I helped them put together the kits. I also took photos of them to show the girls.
In Kenya, I called the Kenyan Days for Girls representative to see if she could come with us for the distribution but unfortunately, she already had other plans. On September 10, we arrived at Lake Baringo, loaded the 100 kits in a boat and headed for Kokwa Island in the middle of the lake. Our destination was Kokwa Primary School, where FKSW supports many of the students with scholarships. There we met Lillian Lemukut and Irene Lechingei, two young women who had grown up on the island and had returned after finishing their university studies, Lillian as a teacher and Irene as a healthcare professional. For the
past two years, Lillian has been leading group discussions on the island with the girls and the women about challenges they face, like HIV/AIDs, early marriage, pregnancy, FGM and other women’s issues. I had asked Lillian and Irene to do the presentation of the kits to the girls. Together, we looked at the kits and talked about each item and its purpose, how to care for the kits and the underwear in different sizes.
For the distribution, all of the girls at the school from 4th through 8th grade (about 80 girls) came together in one classroom. Lillian did a wonderful job of explaining the use of the kits, asking the girls questions as she went along to make sure they understood the name of each piece and its use. She invited one of the girls to go through the demonstration again for her classmates. There were a few nervous giggles from the audience but she did a great job. Then we handed out the kits. As the distribution progressed, the girls’ happy voices grew louder and louder as they examined their own kits and showed each other the colors and designs on their bags, shields and liners.
We left 20 kits at the school with Lillian and Irene for girls who might not have been at school that day or for other girls who come to the school as new students and don’t have a kit.
The feedback we’ve received from the girls is really positive. They say, after two months of use, that the materials are easy to wash with the soap they have at school, the liners are very comfortable, they can wear them for a long time without leaking, they don’t “burn” (I’m going to find out what this means!) and that they love the colors and designs. They also told us that almost no one needs the size 16 underwear!
I attended the Eugene team workday in November and showed them the photos and video of the distribution. It was so much fun to see the kits they had made there in the hands of the happy girls! I stayed for their workday and I even sewed liners for some of the 300 kits I’ve ordered to distribute at our other schools during our visit to Kenya in January. I’m sewing liners at home, too!
I really appreciate the fact that we haven’t had to pay a cent for these kits! FKSW did make a donation to the Eugene Team in August to cover some of their costs but I wanted to do more. I’ve been a member of Rotary International for the past 10 years and this past Tuesday at our club service
committee meeting, I requested $1000 for the team to purchase materials for the kits. The request was approved! I so enjoy working with these women and the service they provide to girls and women through their volunteer efforts is an incredible gift.
Thank you to Days for Girls!!!!
Sincerely,
Gwen Meyer
Friends of Kenya Schools and Wildlife
www.fksw.org

DFG AT THE UNITED NATIONS
Celeste Mergens, the woman who founded Days for Girls 6 years ago, will be speaking to the United Nations on March 12!  That forum and publicity should help bring us closer to meeting the Days for Girls vision of every girl and woman in the world with ready, feasible access to quality sustainable hygiene & health education by 2022.​

JOIN US NEXT MONTH on Sunday, February 15.  We cut, press, sew and serge from 10 to 5 at Our Sewing Room, 5th and Main in Springfield.  We have fun working and know that we are making difference in the lives of young women in impoverished areas of the world.

Saturday, January 3, 2015

75 More on their Way!

On Tuesday,  we assembled 75 more kits, which (along with more made in Texas) will be in the hands of girls in Kenya in just a couple of weeks, thanks to Gwen Meyer of Kenya Friends of Schools and Wildlife.  Thanks to all of you who had a part in this--those who donated fabric, underwear, polyester thread, twill tape, Ziploc freezer bags, washcloths, and your time and/or money.

We set up an assembly line:  Ziplocs bags, with underwear sizes written on them, were each filled with 2 shields, 8 flannel liners, underpants, a washcloth, an instruction slip and an extra Ziploc.  (Soap will be  bought and added in country, to avoid extra baggage weight on the flight.)


Next, as much air as possible was removed from each Ziploc, which was then slipped into a colorful drawstring bag.  (These bags are where we like to use our prettiest cotton fabrics.)  Those completed kits were loaded into big white plastic bags, which were also labeled with underwear sizes.


Gwen left with six bags full of 75 Days for Girls sustainable feminine hygiene kits.


These pictures show only the few of us who put the kits together Tuesday, but so many more made this possible.  Thanks to all of you--the cutters, pressers, sewers, assemblers and donors!  It's so impressive to see how all our work comes together to create these life-changing kits.

Please continue to help us and girls around the world.  The need is on-going, and word is spreading.  Our next work day at Our Sewing Room is Sunday, January 18th, 10:00 to 5:00.  Please remember to bring your own pins and sharp scissors, and a sewing machine if you prefer to use your own.  If you have interested friends, please bring them too!

And if you're moved to make a monetary donation, please consider doing so during the Crowdrise fundraiser.  This opportunity for us to keep 100% of donations ends January 6th.  After that, you can donate through the Days for Girls site, but headquarters retains 10% of that.  If you donate through the DFG site, please be sure to indicate that it's for the Eugene, Oregon team!

Or consider donating items for the kits--washcloths, underpants, Ziploc gallon freezer bags, twill tape , medium to dark polyester thread, and darker, busy, stain-hiding flannel.  Specifics of these needs are posted in the 11/2/14 and 12/1/14  blog entries (scroll down).  

Whichever way you choose to donate, we can provide you with a receipt for tax purposes.

If you have questions, please ask!