Pads are sent! & more charities need pads!!!!

I bundled up all the pads and wetbags for Sister Hope. 

 Yes.. they all fit in there!  (though trust me, that bag is HUGE)  They only *just* fit too... I don't think I could have even squeezed one more in!  I put the pads into ziplock bags and basically vacuum sealed them to remove as much air as possible so they packed down flatter (like a "space bag").  Otherwise I'd not have got them in.

I also sent off a batch of breast pads to Shanti Uganda 

(it looks pathetically small, but breast pads squash down nice and flat and there were only 8 pairs - still... every one helps!)

and just in case you wanted proof... the receipt. 
Excuse the messy handwriting :)

The pad package came to just under 6.5kg - so postage ended up being $121.75 (plus the cost of the bag)... I'd estimated it would weigh over 6.5 kilos and that would have been $130.  So we have the choice of either donating the extra to one of the organisations or (what I think is best) saving it to go towards the next lot we post out... since we'll need to do fundraising to get money for that later....  I'll tally up how much we're over shortly (we're still waiting on one of the auction payments) and make a note of that. If anyone has any thoughts on that, feel free to comment.

And I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to Snaps Australia - I'd asked if they happened to have any scraps lying around, and they sent this large box full of very much needed hemp fleece (for the core of pads), and 2 enormous bags of snaps (and one lot is purple too!  {I love purple})

And more pads are needed!!!

I was contacted by an Australian agency (in my state too, handy!)... who said this:

"We are a small AIDS-care charity….and we are working specially in Africa.

We have built several schools in Malawi….and at two of them we have built onsite hostels…to each accommodate 50 teenage girls on site to spare them lengthy and dangerous travel. You may care to visit our website at www.aids.net.au

 

We are now thinking about their sanitary hygiene needs and wondered whether you assist organizations like out if we choose to buy cloth pads in bulk for them."

So I'll have to get back to them and see what we can do.

And oddly enough, my daughter's school is doing work on different cultures/languages each term, and they are looking at Tanzania this term (it was Italy last term).  Apparently they are going to be working on fundraising to help build a school in a remote area.  So I sent a quick letter to her teacher explaining that I'm working with organisations to get pads out to girls in schools who need them, and if they find they have a need there, let me know.  The teacher spoke to me the other day (pretty excited about it) and is going to bring it up at their next meeting where they are discussing the school stuff... so I'll find out soon if they like the idea or not.