DAYS FOR GIRLS

Days for Girls was founded by Celeste Mergens after a trip to Kenya in 2008. The girls in the orphanage faced huge challenges because they did not have sanitary napkins to use during their period. This is a problem for many girls in countries around the world. When they have their period they can not go to school. Often it is at school where they receive food for the day and if they attend class every day they get to bring food home for the weekend. So beside missing out on education they are lacking nourishment. The girls live in area that have no stores where menstrual products are available to purchase, and  disposable sanitary napkins are banned in many of the countries because  their is no garbage disposal. Celeste designed a sustainable solution, the Day For Girls Kit. Under her leadership it has developed a global network of more than 1,000 volunteer Chapters and Teams. It empowers girls in over 127 countries on six continents.

Pam Anders is the Social Action coordinator for the East Central District and truly has a heart for stopping injustice.  When she and three other United Methodist women from Clermont  were on the mission trip to UMCOR Sager-Brown last fall they met Sara Perkins. She lives in Tennessee and along with 30 women makes Days for Girls kits. Pam asked her when she was visiting in Florida if she would talk to our church.

Debbie Smith is our unit's Social Action coordinator and welcomed everyone to the program on Monday morning, February 25th.

Celeste Hicks, United Methodist Women, Clermont President opened the program with a prayer.

There were over 30 women present.  Some of the women did not belong to any of the circles but had come because they had seen it in the church bulletin. This was a good way to show women in our church how active United Methodist Women are in mission. This program also helped us realize how fortunate we are to live in  America and how much we often take for granted what we have available.

Unfortunately Sara's computer did not want to work with the projector system to let her show us some slides of women who have received the Days for Girls Kits.

She did an excellent presentation holding every one's attention even without the slides.

Sara showed us what items went into a Days for Girls Kit.
Here is a use for those small hotel-size bars of soap you may have picked up when traveling.

Each part of the kit has an exact pattern that must be followed.  Material should be dark colors with patterns that help hide stains and pre-washed. No yellow, no prints with a face or eyes, no camouflage, no cartoons or flags on the material. The material must be 100% cotton for shields and pockets and 100% cotton flannel for liners. One of the layers is made from PUL (Polyurethane Laminate), which is water proof and used for the outside of diapers and diaper covers. The PUL and the underpants can be purchased cheaply through Days for Girls.

Sara demonstrated how each part was cut, sown and put together. She was visiting her sister in Florida, so she had her be her assistant.

To make a kit takes a lot of work and many hands. There are jobs that anyone can do even if you do not sew. You can cut, iron, design, sew, attach snaps, thread ribbon, inspect each piece or help pack them.

All the final pieces are shipped in one of the Ziploc bags. There are several chapters here in Florida to partner with or we could form our own chapter. At the end of the program 20 women showed an interest in making Days for Girls Kits.

EMBRACING WHOLENESS

Saturday, February 9 a group from Clermont UMW went to First United Methodist church Winter Garden for the Mission  study on Embracing Wholeness.

 There was  good attendance with four churches represented.

 Linda Welander, Janet Blume, Pat Harrell, Jan Becherer, Pat Hering and Dottie Mathias.

 A little blurry but someone took this picture so I could be in it, just to prove I was there.

An excellent presentation was given by Jackie Bridges who teaches at Mission U.

 She asked us to put aside these preconceived concept ....  That the Earth belongs to us, we are superior to all of nature, and the world needs us to take care of it.

 We were all given a leaf. We watched an interesting video from Duke University about farming and  our interaction with food.  Today most Americans see food as a commodity, bought at a store. We buy what is cheap and convenient. We need to see food as a precious gift. It was suggested we host an intentional meal where everyone helps to make and cook the meal thinking about where it all came from and how it reached our home.

 God keeps his part even when we don't in the covenant.

 Read through these slides of Jackie's presentation.

We saw a video on Harvest Shame on the migrant workers in Immokalee, FL who harvest tomatoes. It told how the coalition of farm workers have helped to improve the migrants workers lives with the Fair Food Program. Buyers pay 1 cent per pound more for each pound of tomatoes the pickers harvest and the money goes to the workers. Wendy's and Publix has not joined this movement and is why we are asked to boycott or picket these stores.
The program gave us a lot to think about and I hope all of you will attend the Clermont United Methodist Women Mission Study on April 27, 2019.

UNITY WALK

 Pastor Mike gathers the crowd together for prayer in Ingraham Park, Tavares to begin the Unity Walk sponsored by the Tavares African American Heritage Organization, Inc. (TAAHO)

 Joy meets another pastor who will walk with her. In the left background in the white shirt is Lillian who attends the 11:00 service at Clermont FUMC.

Dorann, Evelyn, two walking friends, Joy and her walking buddy begin the walk to Wooten Park.

 The beginning of the parade.

 All the way from Orlando is Young Blacks in Action keeping everyone in step with their drumming

Our United Methodist Women in action at this event, Pam Dorann, Evelyn and Joy saying  "NO" to Confederate Soldier Statue at our Lake County Historical Museum. The soldier has NO ties to Lake County history.
At the end of the walk they checked out the vendors in Wooten Park.  The festival is an annual event on the first Saturday in February.