Service Learning Blog #2

 

Activism: This week I have been working on sewing more of the liners and it has not been easy so far. I am trying to figure out my sewing machine and so far my liners have been slow to be completed; but I am hoping once I get the hang of the machine I can start making them faster. This is definitely an organization I would like to keep volunteering for and I think even after this class is over I would like to keep sewing things for them.

Reflection:  As we’re reading “Are you There God it’s me Margaret?” in class and I’m working on this project to help provide sanitary supplies to women and girls in developing countries who don’t have access to them, it makes me think about how much we are a society of consumption. One quote from Brumberg’s The Body Project that it makes me think of is “At the moment when they begin to menstruate, American girls and their mothers typically think first about the external body; what shows and what doesn’t, rather than about the emotional and social meaning of the maturational process.” (29) It’s not about maturing and becoming a women anymore it becomes more about what products we are going to buy to make sure nothing is shown. Women and girls in these countries don’t even have access to these items we can buy whenever we want and then they have a huge stigma attached to them every time they are menstruating, which makes it even more of an ordeal causing them to lose days of work and school.

Reciprocity: I am glad I decided to work with this organization, they are helping a cause that I feel very strongly about and they have also forced me to finally learn how to use my sewing machine and to do something good with it. I am definitely going to continue my work with them and hopefully can perfect the art of sewing these liners and maybe move on to sewing the shields and the drawstring bags.

Works Cited

Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls. New York: Random House, Inc., 1997.

Service Learning #1

 

Activism: Since I changed my Service Learning Project, I am now working with an organization called Days for Girls, which is an organization that puts together kits to send to women and girls in developing countries who don’t have access to sanitary items for menstruation. These kits are comprised of sanitary pads, liners, underwear, plastic zip lock bags and a washcloth; these items are reusable and can be hidden in the drawstring bag they come in. You can choose to make one item for the kit or to make all the items in the kit and I chose to focus on making the liners, because as I am still a novice at sewing it seemed like something I would be able to sew by hand if my sewing machine failed. I began this project by checking out the various craft stores to see who had the best deals on fabrics or the best coupons, and I ended up choosing Jo-Ann Fabrics because they had a larger variety of fabrics and also accept competitor’s coupons. I also was able to find someone to help answer all my questions when I was looking for the right kind of fabric. Once I had the fabric I had to wash and dry it and then I could finally begin sewing. Unfortunately I did end up having some issues with my sewing machine, which I still can’t figure out what I am doing wrong so I am going to hand sew all the liners.

Reflection: In this class we are learning a lot about girls and their bodies, especially during menstruation. To quote Joan Jacobs Brumberg in her book The Body Project, she says that “When contemporary American girls begin to menstruate, they think of hygiene, not fertility; and that is the American way, and it is taken for granted , as if it were part of the natural order” (55). Most of us grew up with access to sanitary napkins or tampons and were instructed on how to use them by our mothers or doctors. In other countries there are women and young girls who don’t have access to these items and menstruation has a huge stigma attached to it where the women and girls are thought of as unclean and will be kept at home, missing work and school. Missing work and school can cause these women and children to lose income and also be more likely to drop out of school.

Reciprocity: This class and everything we have read, plus working on this project has made me realize just how lucky we are to have access to the information and the sanitary products used during menstruation. It also has made me realize that there are other options for products to use during menstruation, items that can be reusable and more eco-friendly.

Works Cited

Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls. New York: Random House, Inc., 1997.

Campus Engagement: Michelle Obama

On Monday November 5^th, the day before Election Day, I went to go see Michelle Obama speak at a park near Florida Southern College. Along with the First Lady, Ricky Martin, Mayor Buddy Dyer, Senator Bill Nelson and many others spoke. This was a truly inspirational and moving campaign event, because it was so close to Election Day, everyone was extremely excited and passionate about getting President Obama reelected.

            Something that I thought was interesting about this event was that there was a group of teachers and students that came all the way over from London just to follow the last two weeks of the election. The group was called Act Inspired U.S. and they give students from disadvantaged backgrounds the chance to work on the 2012 U.S Elections. They had the chance to see Bill Clinton speak and also Governor Romney; the Michelle Obama rally was their last campaign stop before they headed to Washington D.C. after Election Day. I had the chance to speak to a few people from this organization and they were really inspiring how much they wanted to learn about our government and it was also amazing to see how much other countries support President Obama.

            It was also very interesting to hear Ricky Martin speak. We all know him well for his music but we don’t know much about his political activism. He spoke very passionately about his family and how he wants to create a better world for his children and electing President Obama would do just that. Hearing Senator Bill Nelson was also amazing because I had never heard him speak before. The most important thing all the speakers wanted to get across to everyone attending is how important each of our votes are and it is imperative that we all vote and help others to get to their polling stations to vote as well.

          Michelle Obama gave an incredible speech, she spoke about her and President Obama’s family, and how they were successful because they had people in their lives that believed in them. She also stated all the reasons why she loved and believed in her husband, which was so moving it made me tear up. Those of us who support President Obama know all the reasons why we voted for and continue to support him, but for those who were still undecided, she stated that President Obama supports women, our LGBTQ community, education, and many more reasons. Hearing our First Lady Michelle Obama speak was a highlight of this rather stressful campaign season, which seemed to be dominated by negative ad campaigns and constant fighting from both sides. This was a time for us to come together as a country and we did and (thankfully) reelected President Barack Obama.