MERI FREEDOM BAGS
Valuing the women of Papua New Guinea. Founded by Gay Muller, Meri Freedom Bags is group of volunteers, based in Ipswich, Australia, providing reusable sanitary products for women in Papua New Guinea.
It has been a busy few weeks. PP Sandra Logue and I attended the District Conference at Sea World. and Meri Freedom Bags once again had the opportunity for exposure on a booth at the Annual Rotary District Conference. As our district includes Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Nauru the project is well received. It was wonderful for Sandra and I to meet other delegates and for me to once again connect with Mr John Onga, Principal of Mt Hagen High School. We look forward to receiving photos from him soon showing the distribution of 400 sanitary bags that were sent to the school for the start of this year.
Currently a consignment is clearing in Port Moresby Customs destined for distribution to girls and women in the settlement areas of Port Moresby. This is a new distribution area where poverty prevents girls and women from having what they require to manage their menstruation.
Gay Muller at the Meri Freedom booth at Dist 9620 Conference
John, Osivo (Goroko) Gay Muller and Aggie from Mt Hagen
Meeting delegates from Bouganville Island
Spreading the word about Meri Freedom to other delegates from the District
Volunteers Meeting was well attended on 17th March at Booval Scout Hall. Thanks to President Adam and his wife Deb for making the effort to attend.
Yours in Rotary Service
Gay Muller - (Rotary Club of Ipswich)
Founder
Meri Freedom Bags
On Saturday 11th May, in the lead up to Mother's Day, we paid it forward to Mother's to be.
Zonta Ipswich held our first community birthing kits assembly day. The Rotary Club of Ipswich were very pleased to part of this project providing the volunteers and lunch on the day. There were also volunteers from Meri Freedom and Queensland Police Service and the broader Ipswich community.
Meri Freedom is a project supported by Rotary Club of Ipswich and has we have received District grants for this project. Meri Freedom was founded and is lead by Rotarian Gay Muller. This project also supports women in PNG, providing personal hygiene products to allow young women to return to education and normal household duties.
On the day the group packed 600 kits for the Birthing Kit Foundation Australia. These kits help women have a safer birth and help prevent infection in mothers and babies by supply Clean Birth Kits to pregnant women living in rural communities and low-resource settings around the world. Kits are given to mothers through community outreach programs, supplied to health facilities for use by doctors, midwives and nurses or distributed to traditional birthing attendants. They are designed to support hygienic practices and environments during childbirth in under-resourced settings.
Zonta Ipswich stated that the packing was completed in record time and they could not have done it without the support and volunteers from the Rotary Club of Ipswich, Meri Freedom, Queensland Police Service, Hon Charis Mullen MP, Mayor Teresa Harding and Councillor Marnie Doyle.
This event was made possible by generous donations from June Frank from Walkers Real Estate, Jennifer Howard MP Member for Ipswich and members of Zonta Ipswich.
It was the first of the community kit assembly days but it won't be the last. Next year's target 1,000.
President Adam Whitbread and Rtn Gay Muller
Service Above Self
East Ipswich, QLD 4304
Australia