It's Purse Delivery Day In Lusaka

Excited chatter fills the dusty roadway outside the Ngombe Sewing Co-op. The news has spread throughout the compound that a long, blue flatbed truck is parked on the main road. The flatbed truck is stacked high with plastic wrapped cardboard boxes.

Purses From Around The World Arrive

The women of the sewing co-op soon learn that this is an important delivery that has arrived for them today as they rush to the scene. While one man unwraps the stacked pallets, a couple of local women jump up on the flatbed to help unload cardboard boxes stacked in groups of ten. These women hand the heavy boxes over to the next woman in a growing line of local woman, who are eagerly carrying them off, balanced on their heads, as they make their way into the sewing co-op.

The Purses Can Now Be Filled With Menstrual Hygiene Supplies

How much do these huge boxes weigh? Each box is packed with 150 purses and weighs approximately 50 lbs. In fact, these boxes in this delivery contain thousands of purses that will be filled with two pairs of underwear each, two sets of reusable hygiene pads, and a bar of soap. This is an exciting day in Lusaka because the purses from around the world are on-site and can now be used locally in support of the program.

Preparing Them To Go To Girls In Need

A special delivery day like such only comes a couple of times a year, but the women prepare all year long for such an arrival. Each woman hired into the sewing co-op learns to make the reusable feminine hygiene pads that are stuffed into the purses. These reusable hygiene pads are designed to be washable, durable, and leak-proof, and are fitted with snaps. The construction process involves cutting out the multiple layers, assembling and pinning the layers, stitching, turning, topstitching, and installing the snaps.

To see how the purses are used to change girls lives, watch one of these fun distribution videos

We'd Love To Have You Join The Team

You can be a part of our Sew Powerful mission to employ local women in Zambia to sew and make reusable feminine hygiene pads. By joining us you’ll help us fulfill our mission to help thousands of young girls continue their education without embarrassment. Helping the Zambian women earn a living wage by gaining a marketable skill is a strategic and thoughtful way to make a difference. Won’t you join us? There are now multiple options for donations:

You can choose to support one facet of our ministry, such as the Farm, the school, the sewing co-op (Atlelier Angels), the Building Fund, the Fall Fundraising Campaign, or General Donations. You can also donate in honor of a loved one, or purchase some of our logo merchandise. Check out all of these opportunities today!

You Can Give With Confidence!

We'd love to have you share about this exciting journey, use the infographic below to help tell the story.