If you had asked Carolyn Baldwin a few years ago whether she thought her sewing skills would someday help young women half a world away stay in school, she might have shrugged you off with a laugh. In fact, that’s more or less how she reacted when Krista Brown, ChildVoice Donor Relations and Outreach Coordinator, first approached her about volunteering to help make reusable menstrual pad kits for ChildVoice’s THRIVE Program.
“Well, God made me to sew, but I don't know why. I don't see what good it does Him,” said Carolyn about her initial reaction to Krista’s request. “And so now, I feel like I see what good it does, because I get to do it and share it with people. And [THRIVE] just seems like such a good fit. I didn't expect that.”
Carolyn has leveraged not only her sewing skills, but her teaching experience and her knack for repairing sewing machines, to become an integral part of THRIVE volunteer sewing groups. She not only makes the pad kits, but also teaches other volunteers how to make all the components. And she inspects their work to make sure every kit meets the quality standards that are needed by the students in Uganda and Nigeria who use them.
Carolyn and her husband, Mark, are also monthly Amplified donors. She is unequivocal in her support of ChildVoice’s programs. As she put it: “It's an organization that really does what they say they do. You can talk about ChildVoice to people [about] what they’re actually doing. Their feet are really on the ground. They're really doing the work.”
We at ChildVoice are incredibly grateful that volunteers like Carolyn are also “really doing the work!” Read our full interview with Carolyn at childvoice.org/all-blog-posts/carolyn-baldwin.
Thinking about volunteering? There are many ways to help! You can join a sewing group and help make THRIVE reusable menstrual pads, or even create your own fundraiser to support ChildVoice’s mission. To learn more, email info@childvoice.org.
UPDATES FROM THE FIELD
Uganda
In July, ChildVoice held its annual board retreat in New Hampshire. One of the most important topics discussed was the impact that global inflation is having on our staff and beneficiaries, particularly in Uganda. ChildVoice Uganda Country Director Richard Kyitarinyeba reported that market prices in the country have tripled as a result of inflation, making it difficult for families to feed their children, let alone pay school fees. Concurrently, budget shortfalls have forced the World Food Programme to reduce its food relief in Imvepi and other refugee communities, leaving displaced families and children with barely enough food for one week out of a month. ChildVoice is therefore considering an appeal to address unmet food relief needs for our beneficiaries and partner communities.
Nigeria
As part of an initiative to build bridges of peace among communities in conflict, our Nigeria team has brought in a cohort of Fulani youth to learn alongside current ChildVoice Youth Empowerment Center students, many of whom have been displaced from their agricultural villages due ongoing conflicts between Fulani herdsmen and local farmers. It is our hope that as these Fulani adolescents are accepted into the larger camp community, they will be able to act as bridges across a growing and increasingly violent conflict between Fulani herdsmen and local farmers that has wrought tragic consequences.
The needs of the traumatized youth we serve are ongoing. To give, please go to childvoice.org/makeadonation.