Setbacks...

We've hit a few setbacks as we've tried to get this project underway, evidenced by the fact that it's been almost two months since I've updated the blog. Some things that have been happening:

- We sent over some diaper fabric in July so Jane could start learning how to make diapers, but half of the fabrics were misplaced and we still haven't been able to trace them.

- The cloth pad project was going well, but Jane was making pads faster than we could get donations for them - She was up to making about 50 pads per week, and we couldn't keep up with her! So we had to put a hold on the cloth pads while the donations caught up to the pads she had provided.

- I've had a lot of personal and work issues that have demanded my time and energy which hasn't left much time for this.

- I'm exhausted - growing a person is hard work! I'm currently 6 months pregnant and my almost 3 year old has been having sleep issues and waking up 1-2 times on an average night.

- I was planning to participate in a craft fair this month to sell a few of my items and also advertise and raise donations for the cloth pad project. However, due to the previous two items, I didn't have the time or energy to prepare for the craft fair and ended up cancelling.

I spoke with Jane on the phone yesterday and learned that she will be moving tomorrow because she only has sporadic work and can't pay her rent. My major motivation behind this project is to provide Jane and women like her an opportunity to earn a good income and support their families.

So for now, I've decided to put the diapers on hold and put more effort into raising donations for the cloth pads.

If you'd like to help support this project, $2 will cover the cost of one pad, $10 will cover the cost of a set of 5 pads, and $20 will cover the cost of two sets. 100% of the donations are sent to Kenya to cover the cost of materials and provide Jane with a generous salary. The pads, which are reusable and last several years, are given to young women who don't have access to pads.

Donations can be sent via paypal (valerie@kijaniupcycling.com) or can be mailed - send me a message if you would like my address.

Not your grandmother's cloth diapers continued...

August is generally the busiest month of the year for me in terms of work so this blog and Kijani have taken a bit of a backseat the past month, but now that things are calming down I am planning to go back to updating the blog regularly...

The last blog post was about Kijani nappies, and I mentioned that I would write a post about how much money could be saved by using cloth instead of disposables.

Based on information from friends in Kenya, the cost of disposables ranges from around Kshs 1050 for a pack of 64 up to Kshs 1485 for a pack of 42. That means disposables costs between Kshs 16 and 35 per diaper.

On average, at least 4 diapers a day are used for older babies, and 7 a day for newborns. Assuming someone uses 7 diapers a day for the first two months and then four diapers per day after that, they would use 1643 in baby's first year and 1460 in the second year. This estimate is the minimum they would need, since any mama knows that babies often wait to go until they have a nice clean diaper on :)

This means a family would spend between 50,000 and 108,000 shillings in two years just on disposable diapers! If a baby is in diapers until he/she is 3 years old, the family would spend between 73,000 and 160,000 total! And that's just for one child, many families have more than one child. That's a lot of money that is literally thrown away on disposable diapers!

Each Kijani diaper costs 600 shillings. Because the sizing is adjustable, the baby can wear the same diaper from the time they are born until they are out of diapers. Depending on how often a family wants to wash nappies, it is recommended to buy 12-24 Kijani diapers. These would cost ONLY between 7200-14400, plus 1000-3000 to buy plain white nappies or towels to stuff the Kijani nappies. That is a HUGE difference!

Not your grandmother's cloth diapers...

With the help of Muigai, who is a great video editor, I just finished making a tutorial video for making cloth diapers that we will be sending to Kenya. We have two or three women that we would like to start training so we can start selling them in the local Kenyan market.

Here are some pictures and features of the diapers...

* The outside of the diaper is made with a waterproof material so no cover is needed.

* The inside which is against the baby's skin is made with suedecloth - suedecloth doesn't absorb liquid so the baby will feel dry when the diaper is wet and will be comfortable. Not having wet fabric next to the baby's skin will also minimize
diaper rash.




The diaper closes with velcro - no pins required! This diaper is as easy to put on as a disposable.

* The snaps on the front allow the diaper to be adjustable - it adjusts to three different sizes and is designed to fit most babies from the time they are born until they are potty trained. Natalie wore diapers like these from the time she was 1 month until she was potty trained at 2.




* The diaper has a pocket on the inside - this allows you to stuff the diapers with nappies, towels, etc. This also allows you to control how much absorbancy you need. For nighttime or heavy wetters, you can stuff with two or more nappies. For daytime or light wetters, you can stuff with one nappy or a thin towel.

The best part is that these diapers can save LOTS of money over buying pampers....the next blog post will show just how much money can be saved.

101 pads and counting....

In just three weeks, we have made 101 reusable cloth pads!

The first week, we had 11 pads which were given to the two young women in the previous post.

Last week, Jane brought 40 new pads which Robyn brought to a children's home that has a lot of teenage girls. The girls at the home were excited and grateful for the gift.

This week, Jane brought 50 more pads that we will be distributing soon.

Here's a picture of Jane with one of the cloth pads that she made, and a bag full of 49 more.

Thank you so much to all of you who have donated to make this possible!

First pads delivered!

Last week, the first pads from The Cloth Pad project were delivered to two teenage girls, Sarah and Mercy (not their real names). Sarah first arrived at Tenwick hospital ten years ago, severely malnourished with vitamin A deficiency and corneal ulcers that almost blinded her. Today, she is healthy and has received sponsorship to go to school, and is also learning dressmaking so she can support herself in the future. Both girls are from challenged families and are very grateful for the pads. (We received permission from the girls to use their picture in this blog - we believe that every person has the right to choose whether or not to share their story and we will not post names or pictures without permission).

We learned about these girls from Robyn, a missionary in Kenya who works with several projects for orphaned and vulnerable children. Robyn was excited when she heard about the cloth pads because she knows many young girls who could benefit from them. Jane is bringing her 40 more pads today which she will be able to distribute to more young women. If you know of any ministries in Kenya that could benefit from a donation of cloth pads, please leave a comment on this blog or email valerie@kijaniupcycling.com.

Thank you to those who support this ministry and make this possible!

THE CLOTH PAD PROJECT

In Kenya, many teenage girls do not have access to sanitary pads, especially those who are orphaned and poor. Because they cannot afford pads, many girls are forced to stay at home for a week every month, which can cause them to fall behind in their schoolwork.

In response to this need, we have started The Cloth Pad project. We make reusable cloth sanitary pads from recycled materials that are donated to girls in need. By supporting this project, you can help young girls, help Kenyan families, and help the Earth:

Help young girls - your support gives pads to girls who cannot access them, allowing them to attend school without interruptions. We give each girl five reusable pads, which can last them for several years.

Help Kenyan families - we hire Kenyan women to make the pads for the girls and pay them an excellent salary. By hiring Kenyan women to make the pads, your donation is also helping to support Kenyan families by providing women an opportunity to make an income and support their families.

Help the Earth - in North America alone, about 12 million sanitary pads are thrown into landfills each year. Cloth pads are clearly a better choice for the environment. In addition, our pads are especially eco-friendly because they are made from recycled materials like secondhand fleece blankets and jackets, towels, and shirts.

We are asking people to donate $2, $10, or $20 to support this project:

Each pad only costs $2 to produce, so $2 will enable us to make one cloth pad

$10 will provide a full set of 5 pads to one young woman

$20 will provide a full set of 5 pads to two young women

If you would like to donate, you can send your donation through paypal to valerie@kijaniupcycling.com and put "Cloth Pad Project" in the comments section.

For any questions or if you know of any ministries in Kenya that could benefit from cloth pads, please email valerie@kijaniupcycling or leave a comment on the blog