Nicaragua: Day 7 -- "Pay it Forward"

This morning we toured the various factories to witness the production of the bedkit items. First stop, was the mattress factory.

From Nicaragua 2011

There were 5000 mattresses produced in an area about 300 square feet -- 100 of those were consumed with the stuffing, 100 out in the open air with a sewing machine to seam the bags and the third 100 square feet held a table to assemble the bag.

First, the bag is stuffed with 22 lb. of new, clean remnant material pieces. I was most impressed with the dexterity of the young man who tufted the mattress by stitching through both sides and then knotting the tuft into place. His hands moved with machine-like precision.

We saw the production of the T-shirts and shorts at another stop.

From Nicaragua 2011

Some 900 T-shirts are produced in a day and I counted seven people working on the production line. We watched the process of neck ribbing, sleeve making, attaching the sleeves and label, trimming the threads, and then folding and packaging ready for delivery.

From Nicaragua 2011

We also visited the place where the pillow slips, sheets, and towels were produced. It was here we met Marta, the establishment owner. We discovered that Marta uses the money that Sleeping Children pays her to work with a local parish priest, and she pays for a breakfast for 700 needy children on the 24^th of December.

Such a wonderful story to end our day of factory visits.

Have a look at our photo album. Nicaragua 2011

Marg Garrett
for Team Nicaragua 2011

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