Sewing saviors: C.O. team helps African girls

The sewing machine buzzed, cloths cluttered the table, and fingers frantically finished a project four months in the making. A team of more than 20 women have been working since November to provide relief for young women in Uganda.

“I think the story of making reusable sanitary napkins for girls and women would touch every woman’s heart,” Marilyn Forestell, owner of QuiltWorks in Bend, said Moinday.

QuiltWorks has been the workshop for the Central Oregon branch of Days for Girls, a project devoted to creating and delivering feminine hygiene kits to the African nation.

The project was adopted in the High Desert by an advocacy team at Sisters High School. Their goal is to provide 500 menstruation kits to their “sister” school in Masaka, Uganda.

On Monday at QuiltWorks, the team of women put the finishing touches on their donation, roughly 150 kits that will be delivered by nine students and seven adults from the Sisters School District to Uganda.

“It’s so exciting to know in three weeks’ time, they’ll be delivering these kids to the women who need (them),” said Susan Mondry, who along with Ellen Reynolds and Heather Johnson put the project in motion.

None of the women at QuiltWorks will be traveling to Uganda, but as they threaded the final needles into their labors of love, they were delighted at the sisterhood they shared through stitches.

“The first few weeks, nobody really knew anybody. It wasn’t like people were bringing their friends,” Forestell said. “I think it’s just been a lot of fun for everybody.”

Each kit costs about $10 to make, and the project is still looking for donations or supplies that can be brought to QuiltWorks at 926 N.E. Greenwood Ave. in Bend, or to Sisters High School.

Donations can also be made online at daysforgirls.org, where 90 percent of donations will go toward kits and the remainder goes to the Days for Girls organization.