An Armagh community craft group is working to provide hundreds of hand-sewed sanitary products to a Ugandan aid project.
The community craft room was started by Cheryl Convie, owner of Lottie and Rosie, with the idea of providing a shared space for anyone interested in learning to knit, crochet or sew or for experienced knitters wanting to socialise and knit.
Cheryl, a knitter and crocheter of 16 years, opened her store in Upper English Street in September 2021. Developing from the wool store, the community craft room started their ‘Knit and Natter’ classes which run multiple days a week, and Cheryl says “the door is always open and every level is welcome, from beginner to advanced”.
A regular attender of the community group is Pauline Marshall, who is set to complete project work in Uganda this summer.
‘Zuri Girl’ is a building project and mission trip, with volunteers from a local church going out to help build part of a school as well as bringing and donating sewing machines which will be used to teach the children basic sowing skills to continue making items for themselves in the future.
Pauline suggested the idea of creating sanitary protection bags to bring out to teenage girls attending the school. Over 20 ladies are working on this project, with sewing classes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday with each member sewing products for Uganda during this time.
Sanitary protection bags include: sanitary pads, pants, soap and face clothes.
Speaking to Armagh I about why the community group wanted to get involved in the Uganda project, Cheryl said:
“Many of these girls can’t attend school as they do not have proper protection and they end up loosing out on vital education. Zuri Girl means ‘beautiful girl’ in Swahili and the idea behind the mission is to help young girls have access to basic products.
“We don’t have an exact number in mind, the aim is to create and supply one bag to every teenage girl in the school with the members working towards making a couple of hundred sanitary protection bags to make this goal happen.”
The sanitary towels are made using double layers of old materials sewed together and finished with liquid repellent material with the group appealing for donations of old and unwanted curtains, towels, duvet covers and cotton material clothing to help with the project.
“When I first opened the shop it was just a wool supply shop and at the time I was teaching crochet classes and thought why not start a class to give back to the community and that’s where knit and knatter class came from.
“It’s a non-profit class and I really just wanted to start a group which welcomes everyone and you come in have some tea and buns, chat and knit. From that the classes have developed and then it became the community craft room. ”
One for ideas and giving back, the community craft room have also created and donated Syringe driver bags and premature baby hats for local hospitals and hats for the homeless.
West Armagh Consortium and Wave Trauma Centre are also getting involved in the project with their own members giving up their free time to donate products to the Zuri Girl project.
