The Senior University of Salvaterra de Magos has a solidarity sewing group that, from Monday to Thursday, meets to produce dresses and shorts. “As Marias” have been helping to dress, over the last two years, children from the Bijagós Archipelago, in Guinea-Bissau, with Joana Nobre, president of “Dress a Girl Portugal”, born in Rio Maior, as their liaison. In eight years, around 11 thousand dresses were produced by seamstresses, with another 11 such groups in the district of Santarém. “As Marias” also collaborates with the Senology service at the Santarém District Hospital, sewing pillows for cancer patients to place under their arms, seat belt protections, turbans, among other items.
Maria José Rodrigues, 67 years old, found out about the project through television. “I was going through a lot of depression and I thought it would be a help and I would feel useful”, she says in a conversation with O MIRANTE. In September of the same year she bought fabrics and after a short time of sewing she reached the mark of 25 dresses. At 75 she decided to give them away and reveals that she has never felt so much love for sewing, not even compared to the 20 years she worked in a clothing factory that employed 400 women in Salvaterra de Magos. Some friends showed up to help and it quickly reached a thousand pieces.
The group coordinator says that they work there from morning to night and there is always someone making a pot of soup. “I wouldn’t trade this for anything,” she says, with a smile. Maria José Rodrigues states that they only produce colorful dresses, zero transparent and 100% cotton. Maria José Rodrigues assumes that she has no “words” nor is she ashamed of upsetting the local authorities that have provided sewing machines and have been helping with the purchase of material.
The partnership with Santarém Hospital
Maria José Dionísio’s youngest son had cancer problems and her husband died seven years ago. At 77 years old, he helps fill and sew pillows that help cancer patients at Santarém Hospital. “I was very depressed, I had to ask for help and they told me not to close myself at home”, she reveals while sewing a dress. Each one takes two to three weeks to complete. Before nightfall she walks home, but always thinking about the dresses. At night there is also time for crochet. Maria José Dionísio is from Salvaterra de Magos and lived for several years in Valada, Cartaxo. She worked at Idal for 20 years and ran a fish market for 12. About two years ago she joined the solidarity sewing group and goes home with a “full heart” every day. “What is done here is really to be delivered”, she emphasizes.
Santarém district is where there are the most sewing groups
The Santarém district has the most groups collaborating with “Dress a Girl Portugal”, according to Joana Nobre. There are groups in Salvaterra de Magos, Fazendas de Almeirim, Pontével, Constância, Rio Maior, Benavente, Porto Alto, Almeirim, Cartaxo, Vila Moreira, Barquinha and Torres Novas. At national level there are more than six dozen with a total of more than 2,500 volunteers. The countries leading the list of deliveries are Mozambique, Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe.
Dress a Girl Portugal is a non-profit association, founded in 2016. Dressing 30 thousand children a year with a new dress or shorts is the main objective of the project, which focuses on two pillars: occupational therapy for volunteers and bringing dignity and hope for children in needy countries. Dress a Girl Portugal dressed almost 150 thousand children from 35 countries on five continents.
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