Leaving Bardibas

A diversion around the collapsed bridge was created, so we are quickly on our way out of Bardibas! Our group has decided not to stay in the region any longer as the weather situation could quickly deteriorate and we won’t be able to host our workshop here due to the heavy rains.

Before leaving, we’ll make a quick stop back to the village to meet the principal, collect our leftover materials and pay for the rental space and salaries of the women in the collective. Though they were unable to complete their second day of training, Ashwin feels they learned enough from the first day to make the pads. He’ll also be Skyping in once or twice to answer any more questions from the collective.

On the way to Vedhiyahi, the driver has to get out and survey the road. He’s afraid we might get stuck — one roadway has practically become a river, complete with mini waterfalls. Children are fishing nearby.

Along the way to the school, we pick up the Principal. He tells us that the school has been put on holiday for the next 24 days due to the rain. He explains that it is unsafe to travel in this weather and many children are needed at home to plant crops. This holiday was mostly planned, but moved up a few days due to the intense storms.

After we collect the materials from the still partially flooded school, we head to a nearby tea shop to discuss our expectations with the principal. The principal will be passing the majority of the funds - the salaries of the women - to our female collective leader and the vice principal of the school, Lakshmi Maha. The principal will use the rest of the funds to pay for electricity and to renovate the collective space. We’ve asked for our room to be carpeted, for a fan to be installed and for a metal lock box (where materials can be stored in case of further flooding)*. These renovations will have to be made after the flooding ends, but the principal has promised to provide us with photos.

Before we parted ways, the principal stopped to tell us how excited he and everyone in the community was about our project. The women who attended the first meeting for the collective did not even know the position was salaried, but simply thought we were donating the sewing machines and that we would expect free labor in return. He thinks the salary will mean a lot to the women and that regardless of the outcome of the collective – whether we sell all of the pads or none – that the women in the community will continue to use the skills we taught them.

In the future, we hope to provide Shriee Secondary School with the resources to have a library and to purchase whiteboards for their classrooms. If you are interested in helping purchase books or classrooms supplies: please contact us at .

*All sewing machines have two year warranty.