Pad Party Leads to Pad Talks
Creating Something Personally Useful
by Marti Fisher
Not long ago, well before our departure on the Kenya 2009 mission, Adah, our nursing student (a senior at Azusa Pacific University), was excited about learning something recently. She had been shown how to make cloth menstrual pads for young girls that can be washed and reused. It’s difficult for most of us to imagine how significant a problem this is for many young women, especially on the African continent.
Adah heads to South Africa on September 9. She's prepared a talk that she'll give to young women there. She'll bring a number of sample pads with her that she'll distribute there.
"Hmm," I began to think. "During our upcoming Kenya mission, I, too, will be in a place where there's a big need for handmade, reusable menstrual pads." As you'll see in the five photos at the bottom of this page, I quickly put my plans into action.
I started collecting old flannel shirts and towels. I bought nylon fabric for the underside of these pads. The next thing I knew, daughter Abby invited her friends over to enjoy our first-ever "pad party." Adah brought a few friends, too. Fourteen of us stayed up late, cutting, sewing, and having a great time together. I also involved members of our Bible-study group, as well as the "Helping Hands" group of sewing ladies from our church. Before I knew it, several hundred pads had been fabricated. Plus, we had measured and cut enough material to complete another 300 pads during our Kenya 2009 mission.
After beginning our three-week mission, the first place I gave "a pad talk" was at the sewing center in Malindi. Because most young girls don't have money to buy imported disposal pads, they often miss going to school. The young ladies who were taking a sewing course at the center understood what I presented to them and were excited to learn how to sew them for themselves. During my visit, each girl was given a sewn pad plus enough material to sew another.
Thereafter, we met some young women working with Caris Foundation International, a group that ministers to single mothers in Malindi, some of whom are as young as 10 years old and need help in many ways. I had the opportunity to share my "pad talk" with all the Caris teachers who soon agreed that this was a simple yet very valuable concept.
Our entire team met in Kilifi, our national host's hometown where we had a wonderful time meeting his family. There, for several days, the team conducted Vacation Bible School for as many as 200 kids. Teammate Laura spoke intimately to 25 young girls, 11 to 16 years old, about Psalm 139, telling the attentive girls how are their bodies have been wonderfully made by God. I gave them the "pad talk," gave one to each girl, and helped them sew a second one. I could tell by several comments I'd heard that these pads were definitely meeting a need. It was a delight to see the girls sharing an enjoyable time together as they sat together, smiled, and sewed.
I gave my final "pad talk" in a remote village. The young girls there weren't attending school during the summer month of August but I was able to speak with their teacher who is a good seamstress and had sewn a pad by hand while we spoke. She told me that she'd bring a sewing machine to the village and teach the young girls how to sew these invaluable personal aids. Sadly, when these girls have their period, they often resort to skipping school and sitting over a hole in their hut. I'm comforted believing that they'll have a great time learning to make something for themselves that is so useful.
I'm so thankful to God. He helped my daughter introduce me to something valuable to so many, enabling me to pass this on to those in need. God cares for all of us. I felt that this was a great way for me to show that love of His to all of them.
Love,
