Rain on the hot tin roof

It's hot season.

On the lake shore, more specifically, in Karonga hot season is synomous with dehydration, early menopausal night sweats, chronically empty water filters,  Nalgene upon Nalgene, or just the simple and classic--brutal. 

I've never been one to mind the heat, but it's been interesting to live in a place where you can't escape it. No fans, air conditioning, or freezers into which one could stick his or her head (or his or her undergarments)--but hot damn we do love a nice cross breeze. 

Baby doll, Karonga is hot. 

But I like it.

There have, however been some rare summer days when the rain clouds roll in and the mirages and heat filled hallucinations die down, replaced by cool breezes, the unexpected splash of tiny drops through your shutterless windows, and the varying speeds of, "ting, ding, ding," of the rain hitting your roof.

I love the sound of rain on my hot tin roof. I could spend lifetimes of afternoons curled up with tea, a book, and the inconsistent splatter of a mid-hot-season rain storm.

If nothing else, its a hellofalot better than the damn birds clanging around up there.

The Pad Project

Many of you fine folks have asked what you can send me, here in Malawi and I finally have an answer (beyond chocolate, deodorant, and cheese..)

I have two girl's groups in my community as well as two youth groups that I'm working with, and many discussion topics and project ideas to tackle. One relatively easy, but possibly life changing project that I'd like to do with young women is the Pad Project.

The Pad Project is a sustainable and really effective way to keep girls and women active in school, their communities, reduces shame and stigma around menstruation, provides opportunity to educate about the female reproductive system, by teaching women how to make reusable, sustainable, pads.

This might not seem like a big deal, but commercial products are often too costly for women and girls in Malawi to buy, there is a lot of shame and privacy surrounding the topic of menstruation, and the inability to deal with menstruation  in a reliable way leads many girls to miss large amounts of school or drop out entirely. Having a simple, reusable pad can make all the difference.

If I can provide the resources, I can teach girls how to make their own pads, give them patterns, and they can use resources around them to make more pads and teach others. All of these materials can be found locally-- but on a peace corps budget I can't afford the volume of supplies that I need to support my projects.

The process is really simple. I have directions, patterns, and a sample pad that I've made. Here are the resources needed for the girls:

Needles

Thread

Scissors

Metal snaps (to button the pads onto underwater.)

Paper, (so I can make more patterns to give out.)

Absorbent fabric 

If you are interested in supporting this project please send any of the above resources, especially the metal snaps and sewing materials.

I will in turn send you photos of the girls that you've helped  and possibly some fan mail from Malawi! 

Thanks for supporting women, girls, education, my time here in Malawi, and international development!

My address:

Chilumba Rural Hospital 

PO box 131

Attn: Ame Burke Peace Corps

Chilumba, Karonga

Malawi

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