Anne Blewden shares the work local group Days for Girls does to help women around the world.
From left, International chapter director of Days for Girls Tiffany Larson; Lisette Hulme, local Waikato leader; Celeste Morgan, founder and CEO of Days for Girls; and Cambridge organiser Anne Blewden.
A Cambridge group of 23 women sew once a month making sanitary shields to go in kits for girls and women all over the world who don’t have access to sanitary products. This month we sewed on the anniversary of women’s sufferage in New Zealand, Wednesday, September 19.
Days for Girls is an international non-profit organisation founded in 2008.
No access to sanitary products means no school for girls or work for women. Appropriate sanitary products help girls and women with their education and helps to break the poverty cycle.
In Cambridge we sew shields that go inside kits. The kits are culturally appropriate, easy to dry outside, environmentally friendly and durable. In a kit there are two moisture barrier shields, six absorbent tri-fold pads, a pair of undies, wash cloth, visual instructions, and soap. This year our kits have gone to Nepal, Fiji, Vanuatu, NZ, Kenya, Indonesia, Sierra Leone, and Belize.
We are a fun group of women who generally meet on the first Wednesday afternoon of the month and/or the first Thursday night of the month. We enjoy the social aspect of our get together and we enjoy being part of a group that is instrumental for social change around the world.
If you are interested in finding out more about this group, please contact Anne Blewden on 0276879724 or email anne@lilies.co.nz.
