Red Tent Project

My precious friend Angie posted about this project on her blog yesterday. I was so moved by the reality of what these girls and women live with, the stigma, and burden they carry every time they have a period. Something we hardly think about and how much we take for granted here.

Here's is Angie's post and more information about the project.

our agency felt burdened by the young girls’ overwhelming need for sanitary pads in ethiopia. i don’t think i need to explain what a HUGE problem this is. many girls are considered “unclean” for a week each month and are unable to go to school or work.

here are some facts:

ordinary woman are unable to afford basic sanitary protection.

one pack of sanitary pads costs more than 50% of the average monthly wage for women.

millions of african women are forced to replace tampons/pads with newspapers and dirty rags.

• this can lead to vaginal infections for which there is no available medication.

• these vaginal infections are often mistaken to be sexually transmitted infections leading to social embarrassment and domestic violence.

wives and mothers are unable to work when they have their periods, further hindering already impoverished families.

girls are forced to take time off school, further jeopardizing their education.

• because of the economic and cultural crises in africa, its schools serve as more than academic centers. they provide community resources where young people receive basic care and services, such as food programs, clean water and counseling.

we are currently working on a project to provide the girls at our agency’s transition home with reusable menstrual pads. we are starting with the older girls first. there are about 30 girls who need the pads and we’d like to send 3 of the outer envelopes and 6 of the inner pads to each girl – so we’ll need 90 envelopes and almost 200 pads!

here is where i need your help…i don’t know a thing about sewing, but i am very passionate about this cause. i am calling all my friends (adoption-related or not) to consider helping these young women have a safe way to protect themselves each month.

if you are interested, i will send you the pattern and a photo of the pads. i have been told that they are fairly simple to make. there is a family that is willing to carry them to ethiopia next month, so if you have some time between now and June 15th and would be willing to help, please let me know (you can leave a comment here or e-mail me). i will pay for the shipping once you are ready to send them off.

I contacted Angie immediately wanting to help, not really having a clue what that would look like. All I knew is that I had a young daughter and a friend who also had a young daughter and how amazing this project would be to work on with them. Then I re posted. Some church friends saw it, they wanted to be apart. Another friend saw it and wanted to be a part but she lives in another state yet still wants to be apart. How amazing is that?! Last night another friend who ALREADY makes these wants to be apart and donate a whole bunch she has already made.

Truly only God. Do you want to be apart to help make a difference in these girls lives? Do you want to help make these? Help defray shipping costs? Can't sew but want to donate materials? There are SO many ways you can get involved. Email me here: erica.shubin@gmail.com if you have any questions or want to get more information.

please consider helping these sweet girls. it is a very simple way to make a HUGE difference!

** and please feel free to re-post this information to help get the word out **