Pillowcase Dresses: Literacy in a New Light

Your donations and a sample pillowcase dress

Tuesday we set out for our first Pillowcase Dress training with the men and women of Pawel Lalem, a village deep in the bush about 86 km (53 miles or so) north-ish of Gulu.  With supplies (left) in tow, we bounced and tilted over one lane roads that felt more like a moto-cross course than a road. We met huge bus after bus swaying perilously leaving behind it a suffocating, blinding dust cloud.   Comings and going along the stretch of "highway" resemble the game of chicken, with each vehicle jockeying for the center and testing the others' courage or stupidity.  The biggest wins, hurtling down the middle while the other, be it truck, Boda, bicycle or human gets the hell out of the way by pulling into the ditch - often leaving only a few inches between vehicles.  It's heart stopping. More than once we passed 18-whellers (gas trucks and buses) with three set of wheels off the ground.

Smothered in dust after an hour's drive (remember this is only 25 miles one way), we arrived at the school where  the Women's Pressure Group meets.  The name is just what it implies:  the women group together to discuss things the community needs and put pressure on same to be better parents, educate their children, keep girls in school,  etc.  It's effective.  Though the meeting is to start at 10:30, we arrive at 11:00 (by local standards this ranges from being early to on time) and there are only a handful of the 60 people expected at the meeting.   The playground is a riot of activity since the kids are at recess  which somehow lasts the entire time we are there (till 3:00).  We had a somewhat more sedate audience (above) for the duration while we met under a huge tree.  Thanks to your generous donations, I have come with 60 pillow cases, instructions translated into Acholi, needles, thread, pins, scissors and elastic.
 
 Another hour passed and we began to make noises about starting with thirty people: mostly women but with a few men. This is a culture where people wait till the last person arrives before starting.  But since the last person didn't arrive until we were ready to leave at 3:00, it wouldn't have paid to wait...  They finished their VSLA meeting, tables were brought out and we started by reading instructions, because this is a literacy training as much as anything else.   Words can't begin to define the process, because everything I said needed to be translated into Acholi.  And there are not Acholi words for some of the English, so when I hear how it is literally translated I'm wondering "who said that?"

We broke people up into smaller groups by village, so they can share materials and work together on their dresses after they leave.  They have to share things like printed instructions, thread and scissors, but are each given a needle, some pins, a pillowcase and elastic for the top of the dress.  We demonstrated the cutting process and they all took turns with the few pairs of scissors. I left them with one small pair, but they really wanted the big ones. After all the demonstration projects are through, the good fabric scissors will be given to the groups.

This is an enthusiastic lot and they caught on quickly to each step even though most have done nothing more than sew on a button, almost no-one has a needle at home and scissors are a luxury.   We cut elastic for everyone to take home, demonstrated how to insert it and left them with their supplies to work and install the elastic before next weeks lesson when they'll be shown how to use bias tape to line the armholes and make the straps.   Here they are cutting elastic and displaying their pillowcases - soon to be dresses. 

 Not only will this project move them forward with applying the literacy skills they've learned, it keeps the group active and offers them life skills.  Knowing how to sew allows them to repair their clothing and mosquito nets, adapt the skills for other projects and potentially extend this into an income generating activity.  They can buy the pillowcases in bulk at the market and adapt the other materials. 

When this project finishes, we'll use the skills learned to make reusable menstrual pads (RUMPS) to allow girls to stay in school. The drop out rate for girls reaching puberty is huge, reducing school attendance by almost 75% simply because they don't have supplies and usually do not have their own "changing rooms" or latrines at school.  This is a huge issue in the rural areas and especially the north where girls don't have the funds to buy pads - so they stay at home due to embarrassment.   It's not something we would even think about, but here it's a major deterrent to keeping girls in school.

So that's the update so far.  I know it's been a long time in coming.  I want to thank  the forward thinking teachers, parents and children at Welches Elementary School in Welches Oregon for their amazing generosity in sending 150 pillow cases all the way to Africa to help people they don't even know.  And to all of you who went to the trouble and expense of locating and sending needles, scissors, thread, trim and even the plastic bags to sort supplies - an equally heartfelt thank you.  Every piece of what you sent is being put to productive use and the enthusiasm of the LABE team in supporting the project and the villagers for embracing it is evidence that you are appreciated and making a difference.   These projects will continue until I leave and I believe will be self-sustaining in my absence, because we're teaching them SKILLS that make it possible to better life in ways that matter.  To us it's an old pillow-case or a book.  For the people in the village it's opportunity.  Thank you!