A HUGE thanks goes out to Elizabeth Meeks from Humanicare who single-handedly sent ACCES a package of sample pads free from the US in under a week. How did she do this? She literally mailed a package from the US to "small brown buidling # 456, dirt road, the middle of nowhere, Kakamega, Kenya" and it got here in less than a week. She is currently my hero.
Project Pads for Progress is underway and I am very excited to be going back to the Imara Tailoring School today to present the pad samples (thanks to Elizabeth Meeks and Humanicare) and patterns for our pad-making workshops that will be starting on Thursday. We will also be having our small business workshop on Friday for the seamstresses at Imara and then production starts Monday. It is all happening so fast! I never would have guessed that I would be working with feminine sanitary products in Kenya...
Pads for Progress has also recieved a huge amount of support from various people in the Kakamega community and I cannot tell you how much their time and effort has touched me and made this project that much more possible and exciting. I find out if I get the grant from the FSD today or tomorrow so my fingers are crossed!
In unrelated news: I was out running the other day and was asked to tryout for a soccer team (I have not played soccer since eighth grade). Of course I attended the tryouts thinking that they would not be that difficult since it was the only girls team (of any sport) in the disrict and the girls did not even wear shoes. Let's just say, I was wrong. The girls were amazing and I provided endless comic releif for them during the two and a half hour tryout. One girl was even an Olympic medalist from Bei Jing in gymnastics and claimed to be playing soccer because it was the only sport she could play in the area as a girl and that it was the only way she could stay in shape for gymnastics. A little bit intimidating? I am not sure if I made the team (the coach did not speak English) but he told me to come back this week. I am about 90% sure I was asked back simply because my skill level entertained the girls so much (including my attempt at a header- not pretty) and because they wanted to say they had a myzungu (white person) on their team. I was by far the worst one at the tryouts and probably made a fool of not only myself but my country. However, the girls were absolutely amazing and so much fun and I had a great time. When in Kenya. Lesson learned: not wearing shoes does not equal not good at soccer.
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