Pads for the candidates

After making reusable sanitary pads for the students for over a year, I realised that the candidates who are doing the National Exams in December are going to need them even more when they go to boarding school. I understand that only a few of them will go to secondary school, but even the ones that will start working are going to need a kit with washable pads. I know that they borrow from each other and even their caregivers use them, so It would be nice to give all of them a kit of 10 pads each. They are going to need a total of 170 pads, and I will start making them now, so I can give them to the girls when they graduate. I'm also planning to make a small drawstring bag that they can keep them in. I don't think I'll have time to make them all myself, so I asked my mother to help me out. She has already bought the material, so now we better start the cutting and sewing!

Planning for Destiny School

Working with Destiny is something I constantly do. Right now, we have lots of clothes and toys that people who left Kenya gave to us to give to the school. I'm planning to meet the headmaster soon to discuss the near future for the school. A friend in Sweden has started a collaboration with the local Rotary club. I sent them lots of images and information and they agreed to help us fund a few projects. The biggest problem in the school is now that they are not able to pay the teachers. This is really a big problem and teachers are leaving the school. They depend on volunteers and that makes the students days very unpredictable. We have said that we are only supporting long term investments, because if we leave, the school would be dependent on us. Now we are discussing if we should change that approach and sponsor some teachers salaries. This is a big problem, and very conflicting because if there are no teachers, there will be no school. We still haven't decided what to do but I'm considering starting a fund raiser for teachers salaries. If someone agrees, we can say that the money doesn't come from us, but from another party, and it is only short term.

Recognition for my CAS work

I'm so proud and happy that ISK recognised the hard work I'm doing! Today I got this diploma. It tells me that hard work really pays off. I'm also thinking that for me, CAS is really not that hard. I enjoy my projects and feel good when I can help people. I have to admit that we have a really good setup. The school I work with in the slums has been a part of my whole family life for a long time and the need is endless. To learn that it is a big problem to have your period inspired me to make pads and to do all of my training is a joy. It makes me happy to be able to help and to learn that all you do makes a big difference. It boosts my confidence and make me to feel good about myself, and the hard work is absolutely not a chore. It makes me feel that even I can make a difference and it is totally worth it!

Finding PUL

I'm so excited! My mom managed to find a place were you can buy PUL. That is a plastic fabric that I came across while researching how to make washable pads and diapers. From what I learned, when talking to the girls in Mathare that uses my pads, some of them bleed through the pads. I guess if their flow is heavy enough, it is hard to find pads that will work for a whole day (and most of them only have two pads each). I've tried to google on what would be a good solution to this problem and PUL sounds like the material that you need. I'm also thinking it'll be good for the diapers. I have no experience on how much a baby pees, but it feels safer to have some plastic in the diapers.
I started to make both diapers and pads with a plastic cover and hopes it will work better for the users. The only thing that annoyed me is that I made so many without! The price for the PUL is also very reasonable. About 280 Kes per meter!
Now I have quite a lot of material. Destiny need new pads, because about 20 new girls are enrolled (the pads being one of the reasons). I will make all of them with a PUL layer! I'm also happy that I have the new KAM buttons that I ordered - I got way to many, about 700 so now I'll keep sewing until I'm out!

Results so far

These are the diapers I made - and let me tell you, it's not easy.... Proud of my accomplishments so far!

Acceptance letter

I'm really excited that I got money for desks, chairs, blackboard and cupboard to Destiny school! I got the acceptance letter and I can't wait until we get the money so they can start building and buying!

Starting a new project

So, I started making diapers wit the same material I used for the pads. I've googled a lot and found many good patterns and lots of information about diapers. I am a little concerned that they will not keep the baby dry, and I have no chance of checking it. I got some plastic terrycloth and micro fleece from my moms friend and I am making the soaker pads in that material. One side is going to be regular fleece, and the other one will be flanell. I really hope it will work! My coach is having a baby in June, so I will make the first to them. Washable diapers is good both economically and for the environment. From what I've learned, they are very expensive to buy but saves a lot of money because you will need so many during the the time the baby will use them. I will make three different sizes: newborn, small and medium and as many as I have material for.