Langdon sews to keep girls in school

By Miriam Ostermann, Associate Editor

For more than a year, volunteers in Langdon have threaded their needles once a month to sew necessary hygiene items for girls and women worldwide, providing them with means to manage their menstrual cycles and follow through on their education.
Days for Girls, an organization that came to fruition in 2008 and has since swelled to over 1,000 teams globally, provides females with access to a menstrual hygiene management system. While a chapter was created in Calgary three years ago, Langdon volunteers powered up their sewing machines in March of 2016.
In providing the kits, the initiative has noticed an increase of women completing their education and becoming a vital role in their communities.
“When girls have access to the means of managing their monthly periods they stay in school, and when girls stay in school, for every year of education they have, they have higher earning power as adults in order to support their families,” said Maureen O’Donoghue, team co-lead of Days of Girls Langdon.
“If they don’t have access to menstrual hygiene supplies, they miss five days of school every single month, and it doesn’t take very many months to fall behind and drop out of school. If you want to raise the standards of a community and raise how well they live, educate a girl. It’s been proven to be true, that educating girls will raise up the entire community.”
The initiative started nearly a decade ago, when founder and CEO Celeste Mergens worked with a family foundation in Kenya. The first design of kits for Days of Girls differed greatly from those used today. It took 28 more versions and specific designs to meet cultural and environmental conditions in communities all over the world.
According to the organization, over 640,000 women and girls have received kits in over 100 countries. This translated to 115 million days of education that would’ve otherwise been squandered.
Doing their part to contribute to the cause, anywhere from five to 10 volunteers show up to the sewing days – scheduled for the first Wednesday of the month – with sewing machine in hand.
Although the organization provides fabric, often donated, quality quilter cotton or good quality flannelette, volunteers require intermediate to experienced sewing skills.
“We generally are approached by church groups or volunteer groups that are supporting schools, and orphanages, and clinics in different parts of the world and they sponsor these kits,” said O’Donoghue.
The kits contain two shields, flannelette squares, two panties, a washcloth and a bar of soap, two Ziploc bags for storage and a cloth drawstring bag. The shelf life of one kit is up to three years. The work of the Langdon volunteers may end up in countries all over the world, including India, Pakistan, Africa, South America, and even Canada.
Along with the kit, the women and girls also receive a training session on how to properly care for the kits, as well as an education system on the reproductive systems and a health and hygiene session known as the Ambassador of Women Health program.
Days for Girls meets on the first Wednesday of every month, with the next sewing day on Dec. 6 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Strathmore also has a group. Individuals are expected to bring their own sewing machine. To get involved, or for more information, contact daysforgirlslangdon@hotmail.com.