MENSTRUAL HYGIENE DAY

WORLD ATTENTION

One of the necessary elements in changing the world for menstruating girls and women in developing countries is letting the world know that such difficult situations exist.  There's so much more in print now than 10 years ago when DFG was formed.  I've recently come across two articles featuring Meghan Markle's work on this issue.  Let's hope our target girls and women will benefit from the spotlight the countess shines on the subject.

In Time magazine

And in Ms Magazine blog.


From the BBC  This one has links above it to other articles and videos.


Here's another one about men in Uganda learning to make pads for women:

CHHAUPADI

Here's one cruel custom Days for Girls is helping to eradicate.

 

RAFFLE QUILT WINNING TICKET

We chose Menstrual Hygiene Day (May 28) to draw the name of the winner of our delightful quilt.  Congratulations to Dale, and thanks to all of you who helped with the sewing, Robin who donated her lovely long-arm quilting, the dozens of you who sold tickets, and the hundreds of people who bought chances!  And of course, thanks to Dale for supporting Days for Girls with his generous purchase of tickets.  

I was hopeful that we'd get close to $2000 in sales, and it appears that our total take was $2099!!  What a great group effort!

Over the past months, the quilt has visited various sites and multiple cities as I was invited to speak to several groups. I was pleased to be able to chat with  many individuals just learning about Days for Girls.  We've received generous donations of supplies and money, and I hope to see some of the folks at our workdays.

Linda bought some tickets at Starbucks Monday, shortly before we drew the winner.

TRAVELING

We always appreciate one of our bags of supplies hitching a ride with you as you travel out of the country.  Earlier this month, Beth and Jim took a bag of kits to Peru.  In July, Noel is toting flannel to a chapter in New Zealand (they can't match our US prices and busy colorful prints), and Linda (a different Linda) is taking a suitcase of supplies to a DFG Enterprise in Nairobi, Kenya!  Thanks to you all!

NEXT MEETING IS JULY 7

Please remember that we're not having a workday in June.  I hope you can join us on Saturday, July 7th at Our Sewing Room.  Come for how ever much time works for you, between 10 am and 4 pm.

NO WORKDAY IN JUNE

JULY 7 WORKDAY

Because of multiple conflicts, we won't have a regular workday in June.  Please join us, if you can, on the first Saturday in July.  We meet at Our Sewing Room, 5th & Main in Springfield, 10:00 to 4:00.

KITS TO PERU

Friends traveling to Peru this month generously agreed to check a bag of kits for women living in the mountains there, the bag being picked up at their hotel tonight.  The 47 kits will be distributed to girls and women living in the mountains there.  I'm so appreciative of travelers checking a bag or two of kits for a distribution or supplies to be picked up by another chapter when they arrive.  Please let me know if you could help in this way when you travel.  It helps us reach more girls!

APPLAUSE FOR UNDIES

I'd like to share a video from another chapter, showing some of the education component that's part of every distribution.  Topics covered include male and female anatomy, the reproduction cycle, the importance of good hygiene, and kit use and care.  

Please notice when these girls in Malawi are told that they'll be receiving underwear, they break into applause.

Our underwear is dyed when it's too light to hide stains, all the pairs are sorted by size, then rolled up, ready to be slipped into a kit--2 pair per girl.

CHILD BRIDES IN INDIA

Here's a short, but interesting, article from National Geographic, accompanied by stunning photography.

THE POTENTIAL IN UNDEREDUCATED GIRLS

And here's a thoughtful article in Scientific American, written by a Peace Corps volunteer in Guinea.

REMINDERS

SPECIAL DAYS IN MAY

Our May DFG Workday!  We had a great workday yesterday--Cinco de Mayo.  Many regulars and 7 new volunteers!  A couple of other special days in May are great times to celebrate Days for Girls:  

Mothers' Day,  just a week away, is a great time to show your support for Days for Girls.  If you'd like to honor a mother and support Days for Girls at the same time, I enocourage you to make a contribution online.  When you donate, you'll get a receipt from our headquarters.  If you indicate our Eugene chapter as the recipient (and let me know), I can provide you with a acknowledgment that a contribution was made in honor (or in memory) of whomever you choose--a slip of paper you can tuck in a Mothers' Day card.  

To contribute online to our chapter, go to this special page for donating to teams and chapters.  Scroll down to the box that says "Fundraising Team" or "Fundraising Page" and type in "Eugene" to the right and we should come up.  Click on "DfG Eugene OR Chapter," then "Donate," and fill in your information.

Menstrual Hygiene Day is May 28th.  The date is easy to remember:  5th month for 5 days in a typical period, 28th day for the number of days in an average menstrual cycle.  This is an international day to promote awareness of menstrual management challenges faced by hundreds of millions of girls and women worldwide. It highlights solutions (such the work Days for Girls does) that address these challenges.  There's lots of information on their website, menstrualhygieneday.org.

Menstrual Hygiene Day is also the day our Chapter has chosen to draw the winning ticket in our raffle of a cheerful double bed size quilt.  It's made of scraps left over from sewing our bags and shields.  If  you'd like to buy some chances on the quilt, thereby enabling us to reach more girls and women, please let me know.  One dollar each, or six tickets for $5.

This quilt raffle is our big fundraiser for this year.  I'm delighted with the positive support the raffle has received.

In May, I also have the opportunity to speak to three more groups about Days for Girls.  If you're a member of an organization that would like a presentation, I'd be happy to arrange that with you!

PHOTOS!

I love to include photos from our workdays in this blog.  My challenge is remembering to take them!  So, Friday night I came up with the perfect solution.  I set the alarm on my phone to go off at various times during our workday.  So, you're wondering, then where are the pictures?   I forgot to take the phone to the workday! 

SUPPORT MAKINDU

Makindu Children's Program (which recently took kits to adolescent orphans in Kenya) is having a couple of fundraisers--one is at Oregon Wine Lab Tuesday--Makindu will receive 10% of wine sales, and the other is an online fundraiser (on their website or on this Global Giving fundraiser.  Can you help?

Read the current newsletter on their website to see some of their impressive accomplishments in 2017.

DO YOU TRAVEL?

If you ever know of  somebody traveling to an impoverished area of the world who has available luggage weight allowance, please let me know.  I can check and see if there are enterprises, contacts or kit requests in that area.  It's always delightful to have opportunities to get extra kits transported.  

We also appreciate folks who can transport supplies to teams and chapters working in other first world countries.  Our US prices for and selection of fabric are so much better than what DFG chapters can find in other countries.  I can buy here for them, they can reimburse me via PayPal, and the travelers can check bags as they have weight allowance available.

The handoff is simple--somebody can meet you at the airport or your hotel--your choice.  More lives are changed!

We've got generous travelers taking kits to Peru this week, and more transporting supplies to New Zealand and Africa in the next couple of months!  And maybe another heading to China in the fall.