Sew Powerful helping to keep girls in education

one of the things occupying my time while at Festival of Quilts was to help at the Sew Powerful stand. This company has been involved in supporting ladies in Zambia to get their  children into school.
They taught and employed mothers to sew school uniforms. But after a time they learned that girls stay out of school when they are on their period. This means that they have lost so much schooling that they cannot pass their exams. So the project expanded to having the mothers sew reusable sanitary materials.
Soon they discovered that the families of the Ngombe slum where the project started, didn’t have soap! It was too expensive. After purchasing soaps from the market, eventually the project expanded to training more of the mothers to make soap, also being paid.
This part of Sew Powerful’s project is what impressed me the most. That mothers are being given the means to earn money that can mean the difference of their children being fed or not.
when I heard Sew Powerful  were to have a stand at the Festival of Quilts, of course I offered to help.

I met Jason and Cinnamon from Sew Powerful, Sandy Simms UK rep, and also Ginny who has been making purses with her sewing group. (I forgot to get a photo!) I gave a big pile of fabric to Ginny for a sewing day she was organising for the 3rd of  August. UK made purses can be sent to Sandy Simms.

Part of the project to keep the girls in education is to have people who quilt or sew to make cross body bags/purses. Then they are collected and with the help of World Vision are taken to Zambia to be filled with the items (including 2 pair of pants) and given to girls in their health class. The whole project has grown to include providing the kit to girls in other schools in the Lusaka area.
Last year 6,000 purses were sent. This year they hope to send at least twice that amount.

If you are interested, you can find out more on their website.