Smalls for All
3 weeks 4 days ago
NPAC is our biggest distributor of underwear in Africa, and they’ll be picking up another bumper load – 44,000 new pants and new or gently worn bras – from us next week. To give you an idea of what your pantastic donations mean to the people who receive them, here’s some lovely feedback received from Amina, who runs NPAC’s Zambia branch.
“Thank you for continuing with sourcing and supplying us. Please pass on our gratitude to all your suppliers whether they are individuals, groups, charities or companies because the difference they have made over ten years is immeasurable.
The pants are routinely supplied with our girls’ and ladies’ hygiene packs throughout schools, prisons and rural communities. These must number in hundreds of thousands over the years but the habit of wearing pants not just at period time for all the best reasons is now instilled.
Bras or breast holders are a different matter and have become a rite of passage in senior school. Whilst routinely connected with the pad projects, bras have also become a feature of high school acceptance. This is where we distribute most, and we must not forget that these are growing girls, some are young mothers and they do tend to be on the bigger side here. Harsh washing techniques wear them out very quickly.
Sometimes we used to worry about undermining the second-hand clothes market but to be honest, a bra for a daughter is not a priority for a rural family income and it is you/we who are satisfying a need and providing better health and a bit of self-worth.
In the many rural high schools like Nyimba who have a female attendance of 3000+, we aim to repeat the supply every two years for new pupils and as other girls outgrow or wear out the earlier ones. We supply two bras to each girl where we can. Any bra but sports bras particularly are needed for the growing girls and women’s football teams here, and they are washed – a lot!
Thank you once more to all the ladies in the UK who fill the spaces in your containers with such an unsung yet valuable commodity!”
Thank you for helping us to help them. Maria 🩲♥🙏
