Changes to the Heavy Flow Kits

I am very excited to pass on the latest email from Days for Girls International confirming the expected changes to the Heavy Flow kit. I think it is wonderful that these changes occur as a result of direct feedback from the field.  As a Chapter we will start on making Heavy Flow kits in March once we have our regular deluxe kits finished.

Dear Chapters and Teams,

We are excited to officially announce a recent pattern update to our Heavy Flow Kits. We know that some of you got word early about this change, and we apologize for this.  Please know we are continually working to improve our communication with you. Please see the attached document to review detailed changes.

Why a change?

The previous Heavy Flow/Long DfG Kits were introduced in May 2016 (1 Standard Shield, 1 HF Shield, 8 Regular Liners, & 4 Liners) and were intended to provide greater flexibility for those we serve. However, the overwhelming feedback from the field is that the girls and women that want and need Heavy Flow Kits really need more HF items. The new combination of kit items (2 HF Shields & 8 HF Liners) is what best meets their needs, and we always listen to their wisdom.

High Demand for Heavy Flow/Long DfG Kits

We wanted to also let you know that we currently have an extremely high demand for Heavy Flow/Long Kits! Ali, who is over International Distribution, has many Heavy Flow orders, and she wanted to pass along to each of you that our supply  is not yet meeting the demand. If you currently have Heavy Flow/ Long Kits available please contact her at:  distribution@daysforgirls.org. She will be delighted to hear from you. Connecting DfG Kits to girls and women who desperately need them is her favorite!  

Reasons Women & Girls Request Heavy Flow/Long Kits

• Postpartum and/or Fistula needs
• Heavy flow on a regular basis
• Heavy flow kits provide extra protection in length for larger sized girls and women
• Women and girls in wheelchairs often need Heavy Flow Kits
• Many women (particularly in Asia and Nepal) prefer and request Heavy Flow Kits due to cultural norms
• Used by some to manage night time flow

Heavy Flow/ Long Kits have commonly been associated only with postpartum needs, but the reality is that many girls and women not only love and request our Heavy Flow/Long kits, but they need them!

As you know, Days for Girls works hard to listen to those we serve, and because we have listened we are changing the Heavy Flow/Long Kit to meet their needs.  We want “Every Girl. Everywhere. Period,”  to have what she needs to manage her period with dignity. Thank you for helping us provide hope, dignity, and opportunity to those we serve!

With Love,

Tiffany Larson
International Chapters Director

Volunteer Day December 10th 2017

What a lovely morning we had today! We had quite a few new ladies join us which was great news as there were many ladies away traveling.

I love that everyone just get's down to it until there are cries of "I need more to do" and it is also great to see so many people getting multi-skilled and trying their hands at different tasks. Friends, neighbours,

We had an unexpected visitor today from The Royal Navy who came to present us with 1,500 OMR raised from their recent Charity Ball. What an honour it was to receive this knowing that we can convert that into changing the lives of 250 girls / women.  We are exceptionally grateful.  Thank you to Julie and Claire who suggested Days for Girls as one of the recipients of the Ball.

The selling of the Christmas Gift bags was a big success at yesterday's MWF Christmas Bazaar and this morning at the volunteer day. Next week have been invited to the BSM Fair so we are now trying to get as many bags as possible sewn up this week to have on hand for sale. Selling our bags has been a great way to utilise the skills of our volunteers and generate funds to buy fabrics for our kits.

Our kit sponsorship cards arrived today , sadly it was in the afternoon so I could not share them with the team this morning.  I will post them in a separate blog post. They are a wonderful "gift" to give this holiday season.

Volunteer Morning - November 2017

Hello all our lovely blog readers, I do apologise that I have not updated the blog in a long time. After our distribution to Lebanon it was then the end of the school year and the summer vacation and well to be honest everything just ran away with me.

We are back in action here in Muscat and today we had our 2nd Volunteer morning for the season.

Today we focused on teaching and stocktaking. Lise and Aria were kind enough to teach a new group of ladies how to sew the Days for Girls drawstring bag.

And Hina and Jane were over on the other side teaching our more experienced volunteers how to sew the shields.

Jane has graciously stepped up as the co-ordiantinor for Shields and we are actively looking for more ladies with some sewing experience to join this team so please if you know anyone or you are part of a quilters or sewers group passing on the word for us will be a great help. Alia and Jane also taught some of the new volunteers how to cut the fabric for the bags.

Helen and Jolanda had the serging ladies going full steam ahead progressing from straight serging which they all picked up very quickly last meet-up to rounding the corners and taking the liners from beginning to end. And thank you to Helen who will be co-ordianting the serging group.

Harsha who is going to be our co-ordiantor for the washcloths, ziplocs, soaps and underwear had the ladies counting and bundling items so we know where we are at how much we will need to acquire this year.

Claire, who is going to be co-ordinating our social media from next month, was snapping away and got all the shields finished and packed away.  A great team effort.

The "Diehards" were busy over on the die cutter pumping out shield cuts, these ladies have this down to a fine art now and it is a joy to watch them in action.

And to all our other unsung heroes who come in and get down to work a huge thank you. Your work, enthusiasm and keenness to jump in where ever required was most appreciated.

Nalini, our book keeper and co-ordiantor for all things fabric (washing, pressing and getting them where they need to be) also did a great job sharing the Days for Girls message with our new volunteers. We had lots of lovely new volunteers today - again thank you all!

On a final note we are looking for volunteers to join us on January 19th for the 5KM Charity Walk as part of the Al Mouj Muscat Marathon. Each member will register and pay individually, the fee is 5 rial and goes to the Oman Diabetes Association. We will look at getting some T-Shirts available with the DfG Muscat logo on them and if I can convince anyone else maybe an orange tutu to go over our leggings / pants to attract attention to our lovely project.

It has been suggested that you can ask friends and family to sponsor you and that the proceeds from that can go towards purchasing DfG supplies like fabric, underwear etc. For example I might ask my friends and family to sponsor me per km, so if they say 1 rial per km then on completion of the walk I can collect 5 rial from them. But this is totally optional. Please note this is a walk and not competitive so please think about joining us!! Here is the link for registration.

https://muscatmarathon.om/race-categories/#1507444165354-e32946cc-65f0

Thanks for stopping by. 

SaveSave

Kits are packed- YAY.

400 kits, 175kg!!! Packed and ready to go.

From here to there ... a wonderful journey. 

400 kits - what an achievement!

Sunday's volunteer "Pack'n'Chat" morning was a huge success. As a team we managed to get 400 kits packed, 200 regular and 200 heavy flow. It was the best production line ever, well, after a few alterations that is ;-) 

I want to thank everyone who came along to help, and those who brought along snacks too. 

And a very big thank you to Xeynab who made us a wonderful Days for Girls 500 kits celebration cake for the year. 

Here are some shots from the morning ... Lebanon here we come! 

Thank you to Lisa for making this lovely lap quilt / wall hanging (haven't decided yet) from the Days for Girls off cuts. It brings so much joy to my heart. We are going to miss Lisa so much, she was a force to be reckoned with when she and Maggie (the serger) were together.

PACK'n'CHAT TOMORROW

Can you believe it? Our second Pack'n'Chat meeting and this one will finish us off for this "year". We will all take a well deserved break over the summer and I wish all of you traveling with your families safe and quick travels.

TOMORROW at BHAJA HALL in Qurum (Next to the Jungle Restaurant) from 8.45am until 12.30pm.

If you can, bring along a small snack to share for our celebrations after the packing.

ALSO don't forget tomorrow some our volunteers will have their crafts for sale during the celebration time.  Please bring along some spare money and help support our volunteers and Days for Girls as each crafter will be making a donation to Days for Girls!!!

The ripple effect in action.

It was an absolute pleasure to receive 18 kits from Mary Hovland, the mother of my children's school principal. On her annual visit to Muscat last year she heard about Days for Girls and was so struck with idea that she took it back to her lovely sewing church friends in Willmar, Minnesota and they made it one of their many projects.

The kits are beautifully made and they will be travelling to Lebanon with us on the 28th of this month and will be distributed to Syrian refugees either at the settlement camp or in the school. 

Jamie took some time to share pictures and video of the Uganda distribution too. I love how this movement works!

Thanks for checking in ...