Sewing Sanitary Pads to create Livelihoods Support

This is a strange newsletter to write - it feels like there are so many changes in the air. Changes for all of us, a real time of transformation. The new year, the new way forward... Covid changing all of us... A time where we usually breath, reflect and start anew. 

The sanitary pads project took the decision to take the funding that had accumulated to help sew 100 reusable facemasks to distribute to primary schools that are opening now in 2021. With the new South Africa covid- variant being so easily spread we wanted to support our vulnerable schools, children and communities with facemasks to help keep them safe. Resilience is all about people being able to survive these kind of events, and the only way for this to happen is continued compassion, empathy, adapting, and ubuntu... The spirit of understanding our connectedness... ' I am because you are'. 

We did not take the decision lightly to make masks instead of pads, because we understand that womens health, and a young girls menstrual cycle is incredibly important and we are committed to helping young women go through this period (excuse the pun) with dignity,.. feeling educated, equipped and confident. This said, we are looking forward to the Womens Center to open, this is an exciting collaboration with Timbavati Foundation, and will be a safe happy space for girls to come and wash their reusable sanitary products (*especially at times the village might not have water, or where they might feel shunned) it will also be a space for inspiring women to give talks, and for girls to come together for teen talks and talks about important topics. We are having a few meetings over the next few weeks to see what this can evolve into, so this is an exciting update. This will also be where we can distribute sanitary pads, and have a real outlet to keep the women sewing them. 

So thank you for believing in us, for your contined support,and for allowing us to help young women and children in our vulnerable community through this tough time. We are grateful, and look forward to the next update! 

Thank you also to Into my Wild Africa for the beautiful photo! 

Whilst we have been slow to be able to sew and distribute sanitary pads over the last few months. We are happy to report that Ivy is now busy with 30 packs of reusable sanitary pads. The focus had shifted during the midst of the pandemic to sewing reusable facemasks for children and adults that could be distributed throughout our community, especially into the poor areas where people might not have had the funds to buy a facemask for themselves. We sew thousands upon thousands of masks, and thanks to the passion and tireless sewing from Ivy, Christine, and Merlyn we managed to distribute over 5000 face masks. 

We are now back on track with sewing sanitary pads, and thanks to funding from a donor in Germany are even able to build a small sewing room on site at Nourish, so that one of our seamstresses can be permanently based on site. This allows us to have a quicker turnover time, in case material is needed or there is an issue with the machine, it also allows us to be more supportive and work together to improve the sanitary pad packs. It's also a stepping stone for us to be able to broaden the sewing project into other things in future, like perhaps reusable nappies. 

We are excited to have merlyn coming to work from Nourish from the new skill center to bring her sewing to more people and to help us bring sanitary pads to more woman. Another exiciting update is a partnership with a local foundation, who have decided to build a womens empowerment center onsite at Nourish... a beautiful airy clean space where younng women can come together to wash their sanitary pads without any judgement or taboo. This will also be a space for educational talks, womens forums, and sex education. 

We are excited to share the direction things are moving, and look forward to sharing the next update with you. Thank you for your support!