Sew easy to help: Local charity makes a big difference

Across Exeter and Devon sewing machines have been put into action to help young girls get a better education.

Seamstresses of all levels have been busy making reusable sanitary towels to help combat the ‘period poverty’ suffered by girls in Buburi, a remote community in Western Kenya.

Friends of Buburi, an Exeter based charity, has been helping to provide sustainable, affordable healthcare in the area for over 13 years with a particularly strong impact on pregnancy and neonatal care.


A visit earlier this year to the Clinic by charity supporter and Exeter businesswoman Gilly Sowden included a trip to a local school where Gilly discovered that the schoolgirls were missing out on 4-5 days of schooling a month due to their having no sanitary protection during their periods.

“Some of the children in the school have had their lives brutally changed by the effects of Aids and Malaria on their families but have an incredibly positive outlook and want to learn.

The girls however, are hugely disadvantaged as they miss out on schooling each month, which ultimately means their education suffers and the cycle of poverty continues”. 


Reaching out to friends, supporters, local craft and WI groups the charity were able to call on the sewing skills of these groups who cut, pinned and sewed over 500 reusable sanitary pads to go into 122  ‘period packs’ for the schoolgirls.


Earlier this month Friends of Buburi Trustee Noreen Collins was able to deliver the packs to the Nanderama School which were gratefully received.

The Headmistress said the provision of the packs would have a positive impact on the level of absenteeism for these young girls. The girls themselves were happy that they would no longer have to miss school or hide away for days at a time each month.  


The packs are proving to have such a positive impact on the lives of the girls in the area that the charity is hoping to take more out there in June.

Trustee Noreen said “Having seen the reaction of the girls and how the provision of these simple packs can make a big difference to their lives we are keen to provide more”.

The charity has a simple pattern and instructions on how to sew the pads, which even those with the most rudimentary sewing skills can make.

If you sew or know of a group that might be interested in sewing for Buburi please contact Gilly Sowden gilly@friendsofbuburi.com for more information and instructions.