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Merrimack students stitch for Kenyan orphanage

By Staff | Jun 8, 2016

Merrimack Middle School sewing students have been staying after school for months to create colorful dresses for girls living in an orphanage in Kenya.

Led by Sue Retelle, consumer science teacher at Merrimack Middle School, the team of six girls have created 16 dresses so far to donate to Watoto World, an orphanage for rural Kenyan children opened by Simmie Issenberg of Andover, Mass., in 2013.

"She went to Kenya and met the kids, and saw the horrible living conditions," Retelle said, adding that many of the children came from traumatic backgrounds. "Some saw their parents killed."

Retelle connected with Issenberg through their husbands, Peter Issenberg and Tim Retelle, who play on the same hockey team.

Open for three years now, Watoto World began with six children and now hosts 18, with three more girls expected to arrive soon. While the majority of the orphanage’s children are girls, the sewing club plans to repurpose cotton T-shirts to make shorts for boys too.

After learning of the needs of the orphanage last summer, Retelle said she knew it was an effort her students could join.

"We started making pillowcases for CHaD (the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth) to learn how to use the sewing machines," she said. So far, the sewing club has made more than 50 pillowcases with bright and cheerful designs for children of CHaD.

"They are really fun to do; I enjoyed it, and knowing it’s going to a good cause," said Brianna Nolet, 14, an eighth-grade student at Merrimack Middle School.

Brianna said she also worked on the dresses, which the club approaches as a team.

"We all do them together; they’re a little harder," she said.

Students and staff around the school also pitched in with monetary and material donations, Retelle said.

"We also had a bake sale in March. We each brought in one or two big batches of things and we sold them during lunch for two days straight," Brianna said.

The sale raised $140 to buy the ribbons and pillowcases needed to make the dresses, said Retelle.

While the pillowcases are made from printed fabric, the dresses are created out of pillowcases.

"It’s caused some confusion," Retelle said.

The project isn’t over, but Retelle said she plans to deliver the completed dresses Monday evening to a fundraiser hosted by Issenberg, who is currently stateside. She returns to Kenya in July.

It was Retelle’s first year heading the effort to create the pillowcases for CHaD and outfits for orphans, but she wants to continue next fall – especially after the enthusiasm she saw from students in the club.

"A couple students got their own sewing machines, and another is taking outside sewing lessons," she said.

Brianna said students at the middle school next year should consider the club, "People should take part in it next year, because it’s really fun."

Another member, Abby Osborne, 13, said she encouraged younger students on a tour of the middle school to join the club next year. Abby, a seventh-grader, said she also plans to return.

The club meets every Monday after school, although next Monday will be the last one for the summer.

More about the Watoto World orphanage is online at www.watotoworld.com.

Tina Forbes can be reached at 594-6402, tforbes@nashuatelegraph. com or @Telegraph_TinaF.

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