A Lesson in Community With Pillow Case Dresses

You know Mission to Heal for the medical missions and education we provide in many countries. From dental extractions to hernia repairs, we’ve told a lot of stories of how we aim to improve the lives of people around the world.

But we’re always looking for ways to bring joy to remote villages in non-healthcare related ways. Through the generosity of donors and life-long friends of our founder, Dr. Geelhoed, we’re able to do that in a unique way: pillow case dresses.

There is a group of women in Central Florida who have formed a club to sew pants for boys and dresses for girls made from pillowcases and t-shirts. Colorful, cottony, soft clothes tied with ribbons and decorated with buttons and pockets, packed in a suitcase and brought thousands of miles away to a hillside town in Kenya.

It’s not your typical donation to an organization like M2H – we typically expect (and gratefully accept) medical supplies that allow us to provide surgical care to the communities we serve in. But these pants and dresses are a way for us to stay connected to the places we serve. They are a reminder for everyone involved about the relationships we build in different regions of East Africa.

This January, we gifted the clothes in a slightly different way. In the past, we used to hand them out on the last day of the mission. There would be a message sent around that everyone should come to the clinic, and all types of people would show up to receive the donations. 

But this time, we asked a nurse from the facility we taught in, “how can we make sure the clothes provide the best benefit to the community?” She responded that it would be better for the clinic and their employees to hand them out, both when we were there and after we had left. 

Through that conversation and our constant desire to learn, we realized that handing the clothes out ourselves meant that sometimes, they wouldn’t get to the people who needed them most. Our goal in whatever we do is to ensure everyone’s needs are met equally. This meant making a small change in the usual way we did things.

We passed the clothes over to local leaders who intimately know their community. They were able to bring the clothes where they were most needed – including the home of a nurse who has taken in and cares for 10 orphans. 

We strive to make the best impact with any donation we receive. Many thanks to our supporters and donors – you make a difference and bring joy in unique ways to both our team, and the people we get to meet across the world.

Support Mission to Heal by donating through our website, or by contacting our Director of Operations at samuel.jangala@missiontoheal.org to donate gifts in kind.