RAK Update

I’m still in search of Glenda, the young woman who is 8 months pregnant and who is going to receive the RAK sewing machine. When I went to deliver the machine on Monday, she was absent from school. Today she had fallen on the ice just minutes before I arrived and had been taken to the hospital with contractions. Hopefully she and the baby are OK and we will connect sooner or later.

Instead on Monday I showed the sewing machine and a colorful sewing basket to Benny and Amanda, the two women who run the Teen Parenting Program that is a part of the Arlington County Evelyn Syphax Academic Center. It’s a program that gives these young mothers basic skills they need to raise their children.

They spoke highly of Glenda, saying the choice of who would receive the machine was difficult. They showed me a small pillow she had made and I could see why she was chosen.

Their next class project is to make activity books for the children. They invited me to come in as a volunteer to help with this and any other sewing projects they take on. It’s only twice a week for an hour and it sounds like a great cause.

I went home and found the activity book I had made for my children over 20 years ago. Here are a few pages.




I went in today and found a bunch of typical teenagers. They were polite, but as the instructor explained the project I could see those eyeballs rolling back into their heads. However, as the hour progressed they were all talking excitedly about the books they would take home for their children.

I’ll call again tomorrow to see how Glenda is doing and attempt to find a time to meet her. But until then, I will try to find a useful role as a volunteer.