this year We are proud to partner with:

 

  Promoting Health, Gender Equity, and Civic Engagement
in East African Schools

 

 

Envision a school where girls are unable to attend classes during their menstrual periods and basic hygienic supplies are scarce. The project submitted by Ithaca Rotarian Gertrude Noden provides training and materials that empower students at three schools in Gulu, Uganda and Rumbek, South Sudan, with a total enrollment over 1200, and a women’s cooperative in Gulu to take coordinated actions that overcome these impediments to quality education and good health.


The student-led projects are (1) production and distribution of reusable feminine hygiene kits that include pads, underwear, soap and washcloths, to school-age girls; and (2) production and community-wide distribution of liquid soap in both small and multi-liter containers, with sales revenues used to sustain production. Participating teachers and students attend ZOOM workshops that introduce concepts related to reproductive health, sanitation, budget management, and entrepreneurship.


To facilitate participation in these workshops and sharing of ideas and resources among all participants, laptop computers have already been provided to these schools. The Wawoto women’s cooperative trains marginalized women in the design and manufacturing of textile, straw, and beaded products, and will scale-up their capacity to serve as the training and manufacturing center for the feminine hygiene kits. Youth participants will also serve as trainers for the next cohort, thereby sustaining the initiatives that this grant will help launch.


Additional details are available at: Words Into Deeds.orgFriends of UNIFAT.orgAbukloi.orgWawoto Kacel Cooperative

 

 

 

  lansing sewing saints - days for girls - wash plus
menstrual hygiene support - guaTemala

 

Since 2013, a group of dedicated volunteers in our area have had a huge positive impact on the lives of thousands of girls and women across the world. In 2013, when Andra Benson of Lansing received a request from the Cornell College of Human Ecology for help on a project to provide reusable menstrual pads, she started the “Sewing Saints – Days for Girls (DfG) Chapter”, a diverse group of women and men that volunteer periodically to make reusable menstrual kits. These kits help end period poverty – absence from schools and work due to lack of menstrual supplies and corresponding stigmatization and health risks during their periods.

 

The Sewing Saints – Days for Girls Chapter in Lansing, New York has made over 1600 menstrual hygiene kits, which have been distributed in India and numerous countries in Central America and Africa by various individuals and organizations.  In addition, they helped a local group in Guatemala establish a sustainable effort to produce the kits.  The DDD raffle will provide funding for delivery of 2 sewing machines and difficult to obtain liner material for kits to be made in Guatemala and material for 100 kits to be made locally.