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Last month, 1,775 pairs of children’s underwear landed safely in Kenya on my very first Journey To Africa. I must admit that I was extremely worried about the possibility of losing such precious cargo. But we landed without a hitch and the rest of the trip went
just as smooth.
With the help of my sister-in-law, Juli, we were able to visit six orphanages, and able to give underwear to fellow volunteers who then passed them out to three more orphanages that they were assigned to. It was an amazing experience.
Our first drop off was to our orphanage Saint Monica’s Children’s Home, right outside of Nairobi. All the girls loved the beautiful bright colors and they all giggled and smiled when they left the room. We were happy to do it. And found out later that the girls were so very grateful.
The next day, we met some wonderful nuns from Maria Immaculata Children Education Centre and Home. They house and educate over 300 children. We gave them over 500 pairs total. Sister Faith assured me that each of her children would receive one pair and that she would go to Mother Theresa Of Calcutta’s Orphanage to drop off the rest.
We stopped off at three more orphanages that day. Each deserves its own future post. All I can tell you is that the children were happy. They were smiling from ear to ear and giggly over the fact that they got new underwear. I will end this particular post with a story that Sister Faith told me.
“When I was passing out the underwear yesterday, one of the boys had said that it must be Christmas. ‘Why?’ I asked. Because we have never received something so new before, Christmas must have come early this year.”
In five days, I will be boarding my Virgin Atlantic flight heading to Nairobi, Kenya.
I have two 65 pound duffel bags containing over 1,300 pairs of underwear. The actual final count is 1,324. The amazing thing is we only started this three weeks ago. September 7th was the day that I met an Angel. Three weeks, 1,324 pairs of underwear. Simply amazing.
So I started packing only yesterday.
I thought it would be nice to share some of the photos of the work that was done. I have to say a BIG “Thank You ” to my dear friend, Miss Dugan, for helping me unwrap, separate by size, and finally pack all 1,324 pairs of beautiful new underwear. So here you go!
There are so many people to thank.
To all of those who who donated, sent out emails, posted on their own blogs and have supported me through this interesting and amazing three week journey, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are all just simply amazing.
So keep them coming! This isn’t over. Underwear For Africa will continue through 2008. My husband, Jeff, will continue to collect while I am gone. Our own Amy here on Mothers Fighting For Others, will be traveling to Kenya in January. She will take this opportunity to visit other orphanages there and pass out these much needed little items. Julie and I will be traveling to Kenya next year with A Child’s Right and Taryn and I will travel to South Africa for a new upcoming project that we will announce in the new year.
So these are just three different times that we will be able to distribute our underwear throughout Africa. I am hoping to find partners to help ship them also.
But until then, I will take our 1,324 pairs of amazing underwear to the children of Nairobi, and personally hand them to the kiddos myself!
Thank you all for making this happen! It is because of you that this is all possible!
I have never been so excited to receive underwear!
Last Thursday alone, I received over 54 pairs. Yesterday, my cousin collected over 500. Julie and Tracy bought 92 combined, and I just left the 99 cent store with 7 packs of 3 for 99 cents a pack. I have great friends and family! I believe this is going to be amazing!
The need is so great. The last post entitled, ‘Undignified’ underwear the only choice for Kenya’s poor, is just more proof for me to scream from the rooftops, “I NEED UNDERWEAR!” I hope you will join me.
So many moms want to get involved. We at Mothers Fighting For Others want you to be armed with all the necessities to have your own drive.
We’ve created a couple of flyers for you to use. There is a DONATE HERE flyer to place on a donation container, and a GOT UNDERWEAR? flyer to pass around to friends and family or to put up in the lunchroom at work.
I have also supplied you with an EMAIL MESSAGE to send to everyone in your address book to get the word out.
A widget that you can put on your own personal blogs is available as well. Just copy and paste the code below and add it to your page!!!
Donate Here Flyer: Donate Here Flyer
Got Underwear? Flyer: Got Underwear Flyer
Email Message: Underwear For Africa Email 2
Widget: Click Here To Get Your Underwear For Africa Widget
I think that’s it!!! If you have any questions, please let me know! I can’t wait to hear from all of you!!!
Mothers Fighting For Others INC
Underwear For Africa
27943 Seco Canyon RD # 533
Santa Clarita CA 91350
This article is from MonstersandCritics.com. Check out their site for Entertainment and World news.
Africa Features
‘Undignified’ underwear the only choice for Kenya’s poor
By Tia Goldenberg Aug 28, 2007, 6:30 GMT
Nairobi – At a bustling makeshift market in a Nairobi suburb, Kenyans of all stripes flock on a sunny morning to buy the latest in high fashion: Topshop T-shirts, Diesel jeans and Lacoste shoes among others.
The clothes are laid out neatly at some of the rickety stalls, whereas at others blouses are thrown in unwelcoming piles, proving a daunting task to sort through for any keen shopper.
Vendors yell at the top of their lungs to attract attention to their merchandise as shoppers file through the small aisles.
Used clothes markets like the one at Adam’s Arcade in western Nairobi are where most Kenyans come to fill their wardrobe.
Beyond the most recent styles, which are shipped to the East African country from trend-setting fashionistas in Europe and North America, bras and underwear – often used ones – are sold as well, offering poor Kenyans an alternative to buying them in shops and supermarkets at prices they simply can’t afford.
The sale of used underwear is banned in Kenya, because, the government says, the garments are unhygienic and harmful to its wearers. But it has been unsuccessful in fully weeding them out, as they manage to find their way to second-hand markets.
And without offering an alternative to the cheap pieces, vendors sell them anyway and people continue to purchase them.
‘Do you think I can afford a 2,000-shilling (30-dollar) bra? Compared to what I can get in a store, this is nice quality. The shops are quite expensive,’ said Roselyne, an unemployed Nairobi resident who did not want to give her last name.
The used clothes trade is a lucrative one in Kenya, where half the population lives on less than one dollar a day and relies on these informal markets to get dressed.
Middle-class Kenyans also make use of the cheap markets, where designer labels are sold at astoundingly low prices, but they are crucial for poorer citizens who simply have no alternative to wearing used clothes.
Although she said she prefers to buy new underwear from stores, shopper Vickie Kairo, 21, said many Kenyans have no other option.
‘If you look at the economy, many women can’t afford to buy new underwear. The bottom line is it’s cheap.’
But used undergarments are a contentious good. The government vows it was trying to protect citizens by banning them.
‘All standards that we write here are meant to protect consumers. They are mostly designed to ensure consumers are protected against any product that may put their health at risk,’ said Jared Obewa, head of inspections at the state-owned Kenya Bureau of Standards, which prohibited the import of used undergarments in 1999.
Roselyne, holding three tan-coloured bras and debating which one to buy, disagreed with the government’s intentions.
‘You can get diseases from all over. That won’t stop me from buying underwear,’ she said.
‘It’s true, you don’t know what kind of disease you can get from wearing used underwear,’ Kairo said, but she insisted customers at the second-hand markets are warned by vendors to wash the clothes thoroughly before wearing them.
The move to outlaw the sale of bras and both male and female underwear has faced stiff opposition from pro-poor activists who argue the ban just doesn’t work.
‘If the government really wants to meet the demands of poor people, it should offer support to micro-finance and small industries who are able to produce undergarments at subsidized rates,’ said Angela Wauye, a programme coordinator with ActionAid Kenya, who deals with trade issues.
She said the government must step in to offer impoverished Kenyans an alternative, if only to prevent the ‘undignified’ practice of buying underwear someone else has worn.
But for the poor, whether it is dignified or not, cheap underwear is a necessity.
‘If women can’t afford the expensive underwear and the used pairs are banned,’ said Wambui Carol, a vendor whose stand looked like an explosion of brassieres, with lacy lilac, satiny black and dark blue ones strewn all over, ‘they may go without bras and underwear entirely.’
I could not be more proud of the work we are doing with Underwear For Africa. Let’s keep collecting them my friends!!
Mothers Fighting For Others INC
Underwear For Africa
27943 Seco Canyon RD # 533
Santa Clarita CA 91350
Ever since I met Rocky 8 months ago on CafeMom, I feel as though I’ve caught a fire. It’s hard to explain all the ways I have changed in what I think and how I believe. I owe all of that to Rocky and Oprah… of course!
We have moved forward in our plans for Mothers Fighting For Others because of the unique way in which we volley ideas off of one another. Much like our idea for American Express Members Project was born, today we have been driven and inspired to take on our first official independent MFFO project.
The idea for Underwear for Africa was created this week after Rocky called me and told me about she raided the underwear bins at Gymboree for children’s underwear, so she could take them with her on her trip to Kenya. She wrote about it in the post, I Met an Angel Today… Actually Two.
Now, Rocky and I have already both discussed how silly the name of this project is. But underwear is a topic that is always good for a giggle. ESPECIALLY with kids. Can you imagine the smiles on their faces and the laughter in the room when two crazy white ladies from America come bearing gifts of UNDERWEAR???!!!
We started talking about her experience at the store, and how underwear is always on the list of needs in most orphanages. We also talked about the kind generosity of the Moms on Cafe Mom who have been supporting her in preparing for her trip to Kenya.
Undergarments are a fairly inexpensive items that are needed in nearly all of the facilities that are caring for the children that have been orphaned in the world.
I’ll have more details on how this project will work in the weeks to come. I just wanted to share the very first independent project that we are taking on at Mother Fighting for Others. I believe this will be a springboard for implementing our BIG IDEA; the Members Project that we had a few months back.
Good things happen when you dare to dream. I think we’ll be able to cover a few thousand bottoms with this project. And that my friends will cause more than a few giggles!
Mothers Fighting For Others INC
Underwear For Africa
27943 Seco Canyon RD # 533
Santa Clarita CA 91350
Last week, I spoke to my volunteer coordinator with GVN about specific needs that the orphanage might need in Kenya. The first on the list was underwear. Easy, I thought. I could buy a few packs and ask my mom friends to donate a pack.
Then something interesting happened this morning. I got an email from a cyber Mommy friend with this message,
“I am getting married soon and thought that instead of doing favors I would rather take that money and use it to help a good cause. Well, what better cause than something you are working on.”
I was floored to say the least. This was the second Mom that has taken money out of her wedding fund to help me and these kids. I told her one thing, underwear. Within minutes, she told me that she was going to get her girlfriends together and start her own underwear drive. What an angel.
I loved it!
So here we go. I went to Gymboree to use a $54 credit to buy underwear for my trip. I walked in armed. My $54 credit,$20 I lifted from my Husbands wallet, and a 20% coupon. I told the salesperson what my plan was, I needed to buy as many pairs of underwear I could with $74.
There was beautiful, quiet woman roaming around the store shopping on her own. We talked briefly about my girls before I went back to the counter. While the salesperson, Jenn, and I were sifting through piles of underwear trying to locate the ones on sale, the lone woman came to purchase her goods. I asked her to go ahead of me because I knew I would be awhile. It must of looked odd to see two grown women looking through a large pile of underwear.
I told her the “short version” of the story… going to Africa, working in the orphanage, children not having underwear. To my amazement, this woman, this angel, named Cheryl, handed me all the cash in her wallet. It came to $19. She looked at me and said, “Here, now you can buy more.”
I was stunned.
I started to cry. She started to cry. Jenn started to cry. I was amazed. I hugged her and said, ” You don’t even know me, thank you so very much.”
Then she disappeared.
With her $19 combined with mine, I was able to walk out with 50 pairs of underwear. 50 pairs. That’s 50 kids. So easy. All because of this angel.
I am humbled.
I walked out of the store so happy. I called my “partner in crime” Julie and told her what had just transpired. We were giggly we ere so happy. Then it started. The storm.
Julie and I have the most amazing moments of brainstorming. After only a few minutes of volleying ideas, the Big Idea hit.
Underwear For Africa.
Our goal will be to collect as many new packs of children’s and young adults underwear (ages 3-15) to distribute them throughout Africa. Underwear For Africa.
Are you interested in joining this campaign? Please let us know.
Have your own drive. I’m thinking about holding my own drive at my kids elementary school. I need to have the idea passed through the principal, then the district.
Please let me know if you want to join our army and start your own drive. We can do great things if we work together and have the same goals in mind.
How do I know?
Because we are Mothers Fighting For Others.
Mothers Fighting For Others INC
Underwear For Africa
27943 Seco Canyon RD # 533
Santa Clarita CA 91350
