March has been a great month with the inception of Days for Girls Muscat Oman. We are a group of volunteers working towards a common goal ... keeping girls in school by providing sustainable feminine hygiene.
Days for Girls International was founded in 2008 by Celeste Mergens who had been working at an orphanage in Kenya and was desperately trying to get endless supplies needed for the orphanage. Back in the US in the early hours one morning a thought struck her and she sent an email asking "what do the girls use for their periods", the reply came immediately ... "nothing, most stay in their rooms and sit on cardboard". From that first email came the start of a very nobel and worthwhile cause - Days for Girls.
In late February I was googling ideas on how to use up some excess PUL fabric I had from previously sewing cloth diapers. One page lead to another and suddenly I was on the Days for Girls website. I read through it over and over again, watched the videos, read the blogs, and looked at various Facebook pages. I immediately I knew that this was I wanted to do so I decided I would sew cloth menstrual pads and send them to Days for Girls. I took the online Ambassador Training course so that I could learn more about the organisation and the end consumer and everything in-between.
As fate would have it the next day I received an email reminding people that Celeste Mergens would be in Dhaka, Bangladesh running the Ambassador training on March 5th. I knew I wanted to go and meet her and do the training, I couldn't really explain why given that I had already done the program on-line but there was a little voice in my head and I couldn't ignore it. A mad dash to get a visa and arrange things at home here in Oman and suddenly I was seated on the plane ready for Dhaka. Those three days in Bangladesh were a life changer for me. I met Celeste and other wonderful amazing women from Days for Girls Australia (Evelyn, Vicki, Barbara), US (Deborah), and Bangladesh (Shylla) and their energy and passion was so motivating and inspiring that I knew I could do more. I had the opportunity to meet with locals, visit an orphanage and talk with girls who had been using the hygiene kits for over a year and I heard stories of how it had changed their lives and those around them.
I returned to Muscat and started to speak to as many as people as possible about my trip and Days for Girls. I wanted to enlist volunteers to help sew, donate supplies and promote the cause. I sewed up my first kit so that I could show others what it was all about.
Here we are, less than a month later and we are already organising our first DFG Sew / Non-Sew meet up, a few coffee presentations and just a few days ago I was so thrilled to receive a message from a friend who had pledged to donate 1000 travel soaps!!!
Our aim is to have several sewing groups all over Muscat working on components of the kit and then we will all come together to assemble the kits. There is a specific way the kits must be made to ensure they meet the Days for Girls worldwide standard. All those who will be sewing will be part of the start up group for training which will take place mid to late April after the Spring Break holidays. This blog has been created because not everyone is on Facebook and this will be a great place to post about our upcoming events.
Please join us on this wonderful journey, I know we will have a lot of fun along the way. xxx
Clodagh Cahill
Days for Girls Muscat Oman
daysforgirlsmuscatoman@gmail.com
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Here is an article from O Magazine
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