Pacha Pads in Ukraine colours
THE PACHAMAMA PROJECT IN NUMBERS
August 2020 Volunteers: 3
April 2022 Volunteers: 1512
Total Pacha Pads made: 57,571
Pacha Pads sent out to date: 47,392 supporting 5,924 women and girls dealing with period poverty
Distribution partners: 12 including in Uganda, Athens, Beirut, Bekaa Valley, Turkey, Swindon, Watford, Washington DC, Warsaw, Lviv and Riga
Supporting refugees in ten countries: Greece, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, UK, US, Uganda, Poland, Ukraine and Latvia
Registered volunteers in 14 countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Slovenia, South Africa, Switzerland, The Netherlands, UK, US
Pachamama ambassadors in five countries: UK, US, Italy, France and the Netherlands
NEWS
The world has changed dramatically since our last newsletter in January. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has created the biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War.
Not surprisingly, our wonderful Pachamama community was immediately asking how we could help. Ella connected with NGOs and contacts working with the refugees in the border countries and was advised that it was too chaotic for reusable pads to be a viable solution at that point. Ella contacted Pads4Refugees, who we already know from our partnership with FreeShop Lebanon, and launched a joint fundraiser for disposable pads. So far, together we have raised £7,022 for this disposable product fund and have sent nearly 3000 disposable pads to Lviv via our partners, Climate Action in the UK and Humanitarian Initiatives in Ukraine.
We have also partnered with YMCA in Moldova to buy and distribute pads there. Ella also distributed 1,000 packs of disposable pads in the Global Expo refugee centre in Warsaw, Poland while she was there over Easter and a further 5000 packs will be sent to our partners in Warsaw and Lviv in the coming weeks.
To read more about Ella's trip to Poland find her report here:
Pictured outside the Ukrainian embassy in Warsaw
HOW WE CAN HELP AT THE UK BORDER
In March, our own Pachamama Ruth S introduced us to Amanda who is Border Force National Operational Lead for Safeguarding and Modern Slavery. We are discussing how Pachamama might be able to support refugees arriving at the border from any country. Ella has been invited to visit a reception centre to investigate further how we could work together.
Following this really useful meeting, the Government’s Levelling Up Department has now also reached out to us to see how we can support Ukrainian refugee arrivals. Amanda has also helpfully connected us with the Department of Education to see if they can help spread the word to schools around the country and get more Pacha Clubs running and to get more Duke of Edinburgh students onboard.
Following a request from the Home Office, Ruth organised for some large welcome banners to be made for Ukrainians arriving at our airports. Huge thanks to Pachamama Sally B for her gorgeous contributions.
COUNTRY UPDATES
LEBANON
The FreeShop, Bekaa Valley:
14,000 Pacha Pads and three pallets-worth of children’s clothes, shoes, blankets and women’s underwear were taken from HQ in a heavily-laden camper van to the collection point in Coventry in March. The van was so heavy, it got stuck in the drive and we had to call on neighbours to help tow and push us into the road! A cargo that filled six pallets was unloaded in Coventry!
Some of the pads will be given to Health Impact, also in the Bekaa Valley and this shipment should last about six months. Once we have distributed in Ukraine, we will restock for Lebanon for an August/September shipment. If you want to hear feedback from the women and girls who are using our Pacha Pads, follow @TheFreeShopLebanon on Instagram and listen to the Asylum speakers podcast by the Worldwide Tribe where Ella and fellow period poverty warriors speak out.
WingWoman, Beirut
We have sent five big boxes of fabric with the FreeShop shipment for WingWoman to make their pads. Huge thanks go to Pachamama Margaret Q who bought rolls and rolls of beautiful fabric and cut out thousands of templates for easy shipping – enough to make 13,579 Pacha Pads. We sent lots of these to WingWoman along with new fleece.
In a glorious circle of collaboration, FreeShop is using some of the funds given to them by Pads4Refugees to buy reusable pads made by WingWoman! Love it!
GREECE:
Lesvos:
As the women who were involved in the Pacha club in Lesvos have moved on from the island after finally receiving their papers and now that there are just over 1000 refugees left on the island, many NGOs have moved on to where aid is needed more. The NGO we were working with have now moved on to Athens and we have decided to take a pause. Having spent nine months in Lesvos, Ella has lots of friends on the ground and is closely monitoring the situation and the needs before the continuation of the club. Meanwhile, we are in talks with other NGOs in Greece who are keen to work with us and set up Pacha clubs to support women where the needs are greater.
Athens:
50 packs of our Pacha Pads have been distributed in Athens by Refugym. Refugym was founded by Brittany Pummell in 2018 in response to the unaddressed physical and mental health needs of people seeking asylum in Greece. They run exercise classes within a refugee camp located North of Athens.
Since refugees' cash cards were cut last July, women haven't had access to the financial support they need in order to buy monthly supplies for their periods.
They will be collecting feedback from the women to see if a larger distribution within the camp community would be beneficial.
THE USA
At last count, we have 85 volunteers in the US. Including the 1000 pads made for the Madam Sew campaign, a fantastic 1471 Pacha Pads have been delivered to Food Justice DMV to date. These have been distributed to 100 women and after some fantastic feedback, The Food Justice team are excited for the next distribution! The need is huge and the pads are so well received, we are keen to get as many US volunteers as possible to be able to help as many people as possible!
Translated from the original Spanish, here are some of the reactions from the recipients during a distribution in San Mateo in Hyattsville, MD:
“These are so pretty. Look at all the beautiful fabrics!”
“I can’t believe people made these all by hand for us!”
“It’s so great that they’ll last for five years!”
“I will take some for my wife and daughter because I know they will really like them.”
“It’s so funny because I was just talking to my mother yesterday about what they used to do when she was young and she said they sewed pads for themselves, like these, and here you are today giving some to me!”
“Can I take bags for my niece in Honduras, because where they live out in the countryside they often don’t have access to supplies?” – The answer was “yes”, of course!
“I love the idea of saving money every month and, you know, this really helps prevent waste and protect the environment. That’s so important.”
Huge thanks to Joy, our US Pachamama ambassador, for being on the team and to all our US volunteers –a growing band of fabulous Pachamamas.
UGANDA:
If you don’t follow our social media, you won’t have seen the wonderful images as our 4,000 Pacha pads and 800 bags arrived in Uganda for distribution by Pass it on Trust, a youth-led registered not-for-profit organisation that promotes education for children, to act as a tool of change in the fight against early marriage.
There WAS a 60% school absentee rate amongst girls. Now, thanks to Pachamama, these girls can have the same education as their brothers! We will be sending more pads to support another community supported by Pass it on Trust as soon as we are able to.
THE UK
We are sending a monthly order of 100 kits to Goods4Good who are supporting Afghan refugees in the UK. We will always support anyone from anywhere who needs our help, but having witnessed the horrific images back in August of people clinging to Planes, and Ella's personal connection, with friends with family stuck in Afghanistan, this feels extremely important to us that we are able to continue our support for Afghans.
UKRAINE/POLAND
We have been asked to send an initial shipment of 16,000 Pacha Pads to Ukraine via the Polish not-for-profit Yorghas Foundation to new mums in hospitals in Ukraine. This wonderful organisation distributes “MAMA” kits and works to provide pregnant women, mothers and newborns with access to proper hygiene, healthcare and education. Supermarkets in Ukraine are running low on basic necessities and hospitals are struggling to get the supplies they need. We currently have 10,000 pads in stock so Ella has been busy doing call outs for new volunteers in the media. We’ve had some great coverage and, following another great article by BBC’s Alex Pope, another amazing article by Laura Parnaby for PA Media and an interview on Radio 5 Live breakfast while Ella was in Poland, we’ve had well over 100 new volunteer enquiries.
Since Ella's distribution of 1000 packs of sanitary pads in Poland, we have been able to raise some additional funds, to send pads for an additional 1000 people staying in the Global Expo centre and refugee centre in Warsaw, and a further 4000 packs to Lviv on top of the 2,300 packs which were sent a few weeks ago.
Latvia
Pachamama volunteer Tanja who Ella met in Lesbos is coordinating support for Ukrainian refugees in Riga, Latvia. After reaching out to the community and asking if Pacha Pads would be of use to people, she received many messages requesting our pads. In the next days we will be sending all Italian made pads to Latvia for a distribution, serving 50 women to begin with. Our Pachamama Italia ambassador is doing a fantastic job running a group of enthusiastic volunteers and in fact, the company where she works have agreed to pay the postage to Riga. We are incredibly grateful for their support and look forward to updating you when we have some feedback!
Turkey
We have been consistently sending small parcels of Pacha Pads to the Rainbow project, based in Turkey who have a network supporting refugee families all over the country. They send individual packs out to people all over the country, mostly to Syrian and Afghan refugee women. We will be sending another 50 packs in the coming weeks.
The Netherlands:
The amazing Astrid has taken on the challenge to help us launch Pachamama in The Netherlands! Not only is she making pads herself but is on a mission to recruit volunteers, fundraise, source materials and spread the word about period poverty. If you have any friends or family in The Netherlands who dabble in sewing - let them know! We are excited that our EU volunteer network is growing as it will make shipping and distribution within Europe a lot easier.
Afghanistan:
Whilst the plight of Afghans has well and truly fallen off the media agenda, Ella continues to raise money for “Feeding Families”, a life-saving initiative of her friend from Afghanistan who sends the funds raised directly to her mum and sisters in Herat who buy food parcels to feed families who would otherwise not be able to put food on the table.
A report from the World Bank this month warns that more than a third of the population can no longer meet their basic food needs.
A message from Sedighe:
I want to say thank you to everyone who has donated. Most of these families have no way to make money and can't afford food right now. This project is a huge help to them. Most people start to cry when they receive the food parcels, they say that without this we don't have anything to eat. For most of the families we support, there are only women left in the family, who aren't allowed to work anymore
Please send a big thank you and hug from me and my family and the families we support to everyone who has donated and has cared about the conditions in Afghanistan. The news on Afghanistan has stopped, but just in the past month of Ramadan, more than 500 people have been killed and families are left homeless as food insecurity and poverty rises sharply.
26 families are currently given life-saving groceries every month including: rice, pasta, oil, canned tomatoes and some cash to buy bread and vegetables. With inflation as it currently stands, it costs £15 per month to support each family. In April, along with the very basic supplies, the families were gifted some extras for Ramadan – beans, peas, noodle soup and dates. They have raised £4000 so far which will support these families for 10 months over all, but with more families in need reaching out for support, they are trying to raise as much as possible. Anyone wanting to donate can visit our pay pal fundraiser here: https://www.paypal.com/pools/c/8Jrn8BIfGl
FUNDRAISING
Have you signed up to easyfundraising yet? If you ever shop online, it’s such an easy way to help us raise money in a way that will cost you nothing. All you have to do is go to Easy Fundraising and search for the retailer you are looking to shop with. If they are on the list, you then access their site here and we will get a percentage of the value of your spend. It’s generally tiny, but it all adds up.
Retailers on the list include: Hermes, Amazon, Argos, Uswitch, ebay, booking.com, John Lewis, Asos, Asda, M&S, Boots – and loads more.
And don’t forget to check out our generous supporters Smoothie London, SugaCouture and Rosi Skinfood (with code Pacha).
SPREADING THE WORD
Since our last newsletter, Ella has been interviewed by Sky News, BBC News, BBC Radio 5 Live, France 24, Global Citizen and more helping us raise awareness about period poverty and recruit more volunteers. To check out these interviews, please see and learn more about our mission, you can read more coverage of Pachamama in the media here.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
• post on your neighbourhood social media platforms (such as Facebook and Nextdoor) about i) fabric, if you need it, ii) call for volunteers
• ask your local school/college if they’d be interested in talking to us about i) talks ii) Pacha Clubs/Duke of Edinburgh volunteering
•contact your local WI about i) talks ii) volunteers
•contact local church groups who may run craft clubs
•print off the attached poster and ask your local fabric shops to display it
•if you belong to a club that fundraises for charities, please consider Pachamama!
Meanwhile, if you follow us on social media, please share our posts – it really does help. Instagram, Facebook and Twitter: @ThePachaProject
HOUSEKEEPING
Please include a note with your parcels to include your name, the number of pads/bags and letting us know if they are made with Zorb or PUL (as we store these separately and aim to give everyone at least two super-absorbent pads in their kit).
Pacha Pads checklist:
-absorbency (minimum 20ml. You can add further layers of towel if necessary)
-robustness (the core and all the layers are secured all the way around and attached to the main body)
-size (check against the actual size in the instructions, rather than trusting your printer which may print out different dimensions) and please check the difference between the cutting line and sewing line so the pads don’t end up too small.
-Wings in the middle (in the Phoenix pattern, check the wings are central on the body)
-Fabric is good as new or new (check there is no colour fade or wear. We can supply fabric in the UK from our donated stock on request. Also, please avoid using plain white/cream where possible)
-Fleece (new, dark-coloured anti-pil polar fleece for the top layer. We can supply fleece on request in the UK. Internal layer can be second-hand fleece)
- Please avoid camouflage designs.
THE PACHAMAMA COMMUNITY
We would strongly advise everyone to join the private Pachamama Facebook Group (you don’t need to be active on Facebook but you need an account) – not only will you see the latest news on the project and tips and advice from sewers on there, but it is such a positive, supportive, lovely community to be part of. Do also follow @thefreeshoplebanon on Instagram and see where many of our pads (and our clothing donations) go.
Otherwise, please email us whenever you have any questions.
WHAT NEXT?
We now have a waiting list of organisations that wish to partner with us. This is a huge compliment to this group which continues to grow and to make us proud – and shows us just how great the need is.
THANK YOU SO MUCH
We couldn’t do what we do without:
Lynn, our Bristol Ambassador for supporting local volunteers with fabric and storing and getting pads to HQ
Joy, our US Ambassador for managing volunteers in the US
Alessia, our Italian Ambassador for growing the network in Italy
Astrid who is launching Pachamama in The Netherlands
Helen and Ruth who are incredibly active behind the scenes, not just making insane numbers of pads, but also supporting us at HQ, spreading the word and collecting and sorting for FreeShop.
Grandad Nick for attaching thousands of Kam Snaps!
Big Yellow Storage – for free storage in Chelmsford, Essex – and for returning a little sanity and space to HQ. We wrote to Nick Vetch, Chair of Big Yellow Storage asking for help. He replied within an hour of us sending the email. Then Lee and Ryan at the Chelmsford premises sorted us out. They have no idea how much we needed this help and we are incredibly grateful.
Smoothie London for their continued support in donating 10% of their profits to us and for creating a special Pachamama huggie earring. Please check out their collection – beautiful earrings at amazing prices.
BB Pads – commercial reusable sanitary pads donating 10% of their profits to us
SugaCouture who are donating 10% of their profits to us.
Rosi Skinfood - wonderful organic skincare – donating 10% from online purchases when you use the code “PACHA” at the checkout
Chris at The Vines Fruiters in Great Baddow – for bringing us an endless supply of boxes for shipping
The generous individuals who have donated via our GoFundMe page and donated to the joint fundraiser with Pads4Refugees
Liz Walsh for our brilliant website
Beth Rowland for our gorgeous logo
All our amazing volunteers and their families who get involved
A MESSAGE FROM ELLA
47,000 pads have now been delivered around the world taking 5,924 people out of period poverty.
When we sent the last newsletter, we were still reeling from the Afghan crisis and had no idea that Europe was about to experience the worst refugee disaster since the Second World War. This latest crisis in Ukraine has shone a light on the fragility of peace and the potential for any one of us to need a stranger to open their arms and provide us with safety, with help, with compassion.
At times like this, I feel relieved to be in a position to provide practical help; but this incredible group is providing so much more than sanitary protection – it is a team driven by love and compassion for our fellow human beings, whoever they are, wherever they come from. The feedback we have been given shows just how much the recipients of our kits recognise the care and consideration that our Pacha Pads and gorgeous bags represent. Thank you, Pachamamas, Pachapapas and all, for helping to make a difference.
“Never Underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world”
Margaret Mead, US Anthropologist 1901-1978
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