Sew Powerful ministry provides special purses for girls, young women in Zambia

Harry D. Butler
·2 min read

Volunteers in Alabama were among a thousand or so across the country taking part in September's annual “Sew-a-Thon” Fundraiser for Sew Powerful, a Washington state-based Christian ministry to the people of Zambia.

In addition to raising money, those volunteers made special purses for a specific reason to be used by girls and young women in Zambia, a country with one of the highest poverty rates in Africa.

Zambian women often must stay home from school or their jobs during their menstrual periods because of a lack of feminine hygiene products or a method for carrying them. Many young women even drop out of school for those reasons.

These purses were made for girls and young women in Africa by the Shelby County volunteer group purSEWverance as part of Sew Powerful's annual "Sew-a-Thon" fundraiser.
These purses were made for girls and young women in Africa by the Shelby County volunteer group purSEWverance as part of Sew Powerful's annual "Sew-a-Thon" fundraiser.

Jason and Cinnamon Miles learned about the problem while working with the international nonprofit organization World Vision, and launched Sew Powerful in 2009.

Volunteers make the purses that can be used to carry feminine hygiene products and other items.

The purSEWverance chapter in Shelby County, for instance, hoped to make more than 300 by the end of September.

“We are empowering women and changing lives, one purse at a time,” said Debbie Pope, a former Etowah County resident, as she displayed pictures of purses made by the women in her group.

According to its website, Sew Powerful “works to combat extreme poverty by creating jobs that provide training and tools to facilitate the creation of purposeful products.”

Sew Powerful employs 96 seamstresses in Zambia, a life-changing blessing for those women and for the girls who benefit from the reusable hygiene pads they sew and school uniforms they sew.

Members of the Shelby County volunteer group purSEWverance are shown making purses for the girls and young women of Zambia as part of Sew Powerful's annual "Sew-a-Thon" fundraiser.
Members of the Shelby County volunteer group purSEWverance are shown making purses for the girls and young women of Zambia as part of Sew Powerful's annual "Sew-a-Thon" fundraiser.

Those pads allow students to remain in school throughout the month, helping their academic performance and, according to Pope, giving them “a chance to break the cycle of poverty with a quality education.”

The organization also provides farm-fresh food and soap to help “promote and enable the academic success of children throughout Zambia, while providing the dignity of work for adults.”

The organization says its low overhead rate ensures that the majority of donations go straight to the program in Zambia.

For more information, visit www.sewpowerful.org.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Ministry provides special purses for women in Zambia