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 The Yonkofa Project 

The keep girls in school logo.png
Half Assini Nicu.png
About
YonkofaLogo.jpeg

The Yonkofa Project is an all-volunteer 501(c)3 non-profit organization providing sustainable healthcare in third world countries. They establish medical clinics in rural Ghana that provide care previously unavailable in those areas. They also have a program called "Keep Girls in School Campaign". The Yonkofa Project has teamed up with Crafting Change to provide menstrual hygiene kits to middle school girls, bandages for the rural clinics and hospitals and items for the Half Assini NICU. 

 what are we crafting? 

Item Requested
Craft Type
Quantity Requested
Quantity Still Needed
Menstrual Pad Drying Strap
Sew
4000
0
Soap Sacks (sewn only)
Sew
2000
0
Backpacks
Sew
1500
881
Wet Bags
Sew
1500
568
Menstrual Pad Size 8" to 9" Medium (1 Zorb)
Sew
2000
481
Menstrual Pad Size 8" to 9" Heavy (2 Zorb)
Sew
2000
948
Menstrual Pad Size 10.25 Medium (1 Zorb)
Sew
500
279
Menstrual Pad Size 10.25 Heavy (2 Zorb)
Sew
500
428
Receiving Blankets
Sew
200
185
Bandages
Knit/Crochet
300
148

 project must-knows 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1) Drawstring Back Pack

 A simple sewn drawstring backpack using fabric and cording.  Please use high quality quilting cotton or lightweight canvas, Please don't use heavy fabrics like decorator fabrics, or denim as it is difficult for us to fold and ship. 

DON'T:

 

Please don't use camouflage fabric on the backpack as this only used by military in Ghana. 

Let's not use Christian holiday fabric, or other Holiday themed fabric. (like Easter bunnies, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Santa, etc.) These bags are to be used year round and many girls are Muslim. 

 

DO:

They LOVE LOVE LOVE soccer and fabric that looks like you got it in America. They are very excited to get something made for them in the USA. (Don't make it out of American flags, but fabric that is from our culture is amazing!)  The novelty fabrics at our fabric stores are full of great ideas. They have loved  tie-dye, super heroes, Neons, Bright colors; (dark and solid colors have not been favorites). Things get dirty, avoid predominantly white prints. 



2) Hand Made Reusable Menstrual Pads. Without these essential items, girls miss school. 

 

We are putting kits together that include 2 medium and 2 heavy pads per kit. Ensure your topper fabric is dark, colorful, patterned or busy to help camouflage stains. White/light/pastels are not good choices for toppers. We need a variety of lengths. so feel free to use any template size from the 8.5 inch length to the largest 10.5" length or any size in between. Please label the pads by their absorbency and length prior to shipping. to help us at HQ put them in to the right aged group kit and get each girl 2 of each absorbency. 

We only accept pads with 1 or 2 layers of Zorb and pads made using a bottom layer of PUL. 

We have a lot of resources below for constructing menstrual pads. Please read through the Project Overview Sheet first and then review the other resources. If you have questions, contact us. We also have discounted wholesale supplies available for you to get direct from us. Please visit our Keep Girls In School Campaign Page for info. 

Requirements for snaps: We now require that each pad regardless of length or absorbency has 2 snaps. If you apply your own snaps test the snap at least 3 or 4 times to ensure it functions. If you don't have a Kam-snap machine, ship them to Crafting Change HQ WITHOUT the snaps and we will apply them for you! 

 

Have a question about Menstrual Pads email our Executive Director Tiffany Tiffany@craftingchange.org

3) Wet Bags- These essential items have two main functions. To hold the soiled pads and serve as a vessel to clean the pads. These must be waterproof. We have one approved pattern for these bags. It is a tried and true method for making a waterproof bag. Please watch the video. If you have questions about constructing this pattern, please contact Martha martha@craftingchange.org

4) Menstrual Pad Drying Strap- The menstrual pad drying strap is easily constructed with a 24" piece of grosgrain ribbon. These straps will make it easier for the girls to hang their pads to dry just about anywhere and get good ventilation. Please follow our instructions in this short video tutorial here: https://youtu.be/sL8WBiyEPa8 

5) Sewn Soap Sacks - We have designed a specific pattern for The Yonkofa Project! The Sewn Soap Sack from a wash cloth is perfect for the Menstrual Hygiene Kits we distribute. It closely resembles a wash cloth so it is familiar to the girls but still has the twill loop so girls can hang it so the soap dries. This is the ONLY pattern we will now be putting in our kits. 

6) Crochet & Knit Bandages- We are making cotton bandages for a clinic Ghana. We have 5 approved yarns and a very specific pattern approved for this project. You must be an experienced crochet or knitter to participate and be able to check your gauge. It is a simple pattern but consistency and gauge are important. You can order 2 skeins of yarn for your first set to get quality checked by our medical advisor then you will be approved to order multiple skeins. Everything you need to know can be found on this information sheet.

7) Receiving Blankets for the NICU- We are making swaddling/receiving blankets for the NICU at Half Assini Government Hospital in Half Assini, Ghana. These should be between 38x38 and 40x40 inch square. Whatever style you make, they must have finished hems, narrow rolled serger hems are wonderful on single layer blankets if you have a serger. 

  • single layer flannel

  • 2 layer quilting cotton

  • Single or Double layer jersey

  • Single or Double layer Double Gauze

MORE NICU PROJECTS ARE COMING SOON! 

UNDERWEAR: We do put 2 pairs of underwear in each kit. We use girls size 12/14/16 in our kits. We provide extra pairs of size 10 and women's size 5 to the schools for girls that fall outside of this standard size range. We have underwear on our Amazon Wish List, but often Fruit of the Loom has great BOGO sales as and your local retailers like Target/Walmart will have some on clearance! We are always accepting underwear for our kits. We mainly need size 12/14. 

***PLEASE NOTE: we can NOT accept any menstrual pads made with VINYL or other material that is not  PUL or pads that do not have waterproof PUL covering the entire underside of the pad. PUL is the only fabric proven waterproof and SAFE. We also require all menstrual pads to use Zorb as the core. The girls have placed their trust in us to have the pads work. Therefore pads going into kits from Crafting Change must meet our specifications: PUL + Zorb.

 

We have provided lots of resources to help you craft the best pads possible and have the approved supplies available, please contact us for help or to obtain the proper supplies.***

Must Knows
Patterns

menstrual pads and wet bags

Menstruals

Wet Bags by Martha

Super simple wet bag designed for Crafting Change by Martha Richmond

How to Sew Menstrual Pads for Crafting Change

Video Tutorial including specifics on sewing pads for Crafting Change!

Crafting Change Easy 10" Menstrual Pad

This new pattern for a 10.25" Menstrual Pad designed by Carol Grape of Crafting Change is easy to sew with smoother curves.

Luna Wolf Pattern

The first pattern we've used for pads, comes in 3 lengths. You can get nice 3d printed templates from our friends with this pattern!

UPDATED: Menstrual Pad Drying Strap

This updated video tutorial shows how we make the drying strap for our menstrual hygiene kits.

Wet Bags: How to Properly Seal Them

This handy video gives important information

Menstrual Pads Quick Guide

Quick Tips & Tricks for sewing menstrual pads for The Yonkofa Project with Crafting Change!

Updated Crafting Change Menstrual Pad Pattern by Mary Dredge

Modified 8/22 New Easy to cut and sew menstrual pad pattern designed for Crafting Change! Can be made with 1 or 2 zorb!

Topper Fabrics

A handy guide to topper fabrics for menstrual pads

Introduction to Sewing Pads for The Keep Girls In School Campaign

Video Tutorial for making pads for The Keep Girls In School Campaign

Menstrual Pads Tips & Tricks Sewing Directions

Our sewing directions full of helpful tips and tricks for making the Luna Wolf pattern!

Easy 9" Menstrual Pad by Angie Rohan

Easy 9" pad designed by Angie Rohan. Can be made with 1 zorb or 2!

How to Add Kam Snaps to Menstrual Pads

Video tutorial on how to apply Kam Snaps with Carol Grape

 drawstring backpacks 

Backpack
Sew

Unlined Drawstring Backpack Project Overview Sheet

Read this first before starting this project! Full of helpful info.

Sew

How To Make Straps

Simple technique to make straps for drawstring backpack

Sew

Unlined Drawstring Backpack

Video Tutorial and Pattern for the unlined drawstring backpack

Sew

Up-cycled T-shirt Drawstring Backpack

How to make a drawstring backpack from a T-shirt!

Knit/Crochet

Bandage Project Overview Sheet

Pattern and Project Overview for Medical Bandages for rural clinics in Ghana

Supply Request

Supply Request Form

Request cotton yarn from Crafting Change for the bandage project

 bandages 

Bandage

 sewn soap sack 

sewn soap sack

Sewn Soap Sack from a Wash Cloth

The Crafting Change Sewn Soap Sack was designed especially for The Yonkofa Project

   nicu  

Easy Flannel Receiving Blanket

Easy Flannel Receiving Blanket (no binding)

Receiving Blanket Tutorial

This technique is stellar, you will need to modify the blanket size for this project.

Sewing A Swaddle Blanket with a Sewing Machine or Serger

Easy way to use Double Gauze for a blanket using serger or sewing machine

Reversible Blanket

Reversible Blanket with decorative stitching

Sew A Swaddle Blanket with Double Gauze

Super easy video tutorial for making a single or double layer receiving blanket with Double Gauze

Easy Baby Blanket

This super easy blanket can be made in as little as 20 minutes!

10 Minute Easy Swaddle Blanket Tutorial (Jersey)

Easy tutorial to use Jersey fabric for a baby blanket

NICU
Shipping

 shipping guidelines 

Volunteers ship their donations for The Yonkofa Project to Crafting Change HQ where we assemble them into kits or get the bandages inspected or the baby items ready to go prior to shipping to them to load into cargo containers for the long journey to Ghana.

 

When they arrive here we put menstrual kit items together with donated underwear into kits with instructions. 

 

(Please do not ship these directly to The Yonkofa Project in GA, if you do, they end up having to pay shipping to get them to us. )

There is no rush to get items to us for The Yonkofa Project. This is an ongoing project and items are always needed. Cargo containers go to Ghana on a rolling basis. 

Shipping Address

USPS                                                         

Crafting Change HQ                     

PO BOX 41631                                     

Eugene, OR 97404 

 

FedEx/UPS

Crafting Change HQ

255 River Avenue #41631

Eugene, OR 97404           

 

If your box will cost you more than $20 to ship, CCHQ is partnered with Give Back Box to get you a $20 UPS label from Give Back Box and ship up to 50 pounds and 108" in girth to CCHQ here.

Due to a computer glitch, they send out the same label with the same tracking number to every person and you can't use it. After you receive your label, please immediately email Monika at info@givebackbox.com and ask for a "fresh" label with an unused tracking number. You will get a new label in 1-2 days. This is the label you should use. 

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