Sewing Angels
Sometimes the world feels large and the problems in it too complex and far-reaching to ever be solved. Hatred and violence, natural disasters, poverty, illiteracy, hunger, and the list goes on. In the face of those challenges, there is great power in simple acts of kindness. We can't solve everything, maybe we can't solve anything, but we can do something. We can change one life at a time. We can touch hearts and invite people into the uniquely beautiful camaraderie of people whose hearts are drawn out in compassion for others.
That's what Carol Turley, a longtime supporter of Kenya Keys, accomplished when she brought together a diverse group of women with one goal: to support girls in rural Kenya by sewing sanitary kits to be distributed by the SOS (Save Our Sisters) girls of Kenya Keys.
Carol is a member of the Relief Society, a female organization within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She organized a group of women from her local (Los Angeles) congregation to spend a day sewing the shields, liners, and bags for the kits. They were joined by members of the Taiwanese Rotary Club and the Ethiopian Christian Fellowship Church.
Over 200 women gathered on May 30, 2015 with the goal of making 300 kits. These labor-intensive kits require a lot of time to make, so this was no small undertaking. They planned to work from 9 am to noon, and then have individuals take any unfinished kits home to finish on their own. But noon came and went, and Carol couldn't convince the women to stop sewing. So they kept working for a couple more hours. Each woman's contribution will greatly improve the lives of the girls who receive their sanitary kits.
One of the women who participated in the event has limited mobility due to health challenges, so she doesn't get out very often. She has been working from home, sewing shields for the sanitary kits, and was thrilled to be able to join the other women on the day of the event. In speaking of how she feels when she sits down to work on the kits, she said, "I feel that angels are with me." We're pretty sure that the girls in Kenya who receive these kits feel that angels are with them - the angels who performed the simple act of sewing a sanitary kit.