I am officially going back to visit!

Hello everyone!

I apologize for how long it has been since I last wrote. There has been so much changing on this end! I have officially gotten plane tickets to return to Dgeye, Uganda this spring! I leave on March 10th and can hardly contain my excitement.

What am I going to be doing there? Well, a couple new sustainable ideas and projects have surfaced that seemed to catch on incredibly well. I will be helping to continue them when I go over. The main two things that I will be working on are:

1.The pad project: 
One of the biggest concerns with women's education and health in Uganda is their lack of sanitary products when on their period. Often times, women and girls will use resources such as corn cob husks or newspapers, which leads to horrible infections. For girls in school, they miss a week of classes a month because they have to stay home with no way to prevent the bleeding. This means that very often, the boys succeed in school and can pass exams, while the girls are unable to perform as well, and more often than not drop out. I will be bringing over materials that can be used to sew reusable pads. There is an area for the inserts that then attach to a belt that goes around the waste. This means girls who don't have underwear can still use the pads. And the inserts themselves can be rinsed and re-used for up to 5 years, making it incredibly sustainable!

2. The Moringa Tree project:
The leaves of the Moringa tree have as much calcium and protein found in prenatal pills here in America. The trees grow incredibly well in Uganda, needing only to be watered for the first two weeks. After about 6 months, the tree has grown fully, but the leaves can still be used in the meantime. The leaves can be eaten directly off the tree, crumbled onto food, or can be dried out in the shade for 3 days, and crumbled to store in jars for later use or selling. This would be an incredible source for women while pregnant, children, or really anyone. I am going to be checking on a few trees that were already planted and hopefully will be planting some more!!

While there, I will also be visiting women in the village, interviewing those who work at the clinic, (hopefully) witnessing the start of the actual building of the maternity ward, and many other things. I can't wait!