Crafters in Maine and Beyond Launch “Caps to Cap-Haitien” Baby Hat Project

November 2008

In her introductory comments, Mama To Mama website founder Amanda Soule of Portland says, “I invite you to join me in sharing your creativity, time and energy to aid our Caribbean sisters. Our life circumstances may be so different from one another, but as women and mothers, we share so very much in common – the most basic being our desire to keep our children safe and healthy from the moment of birth onward.”

As Mama To Mama’s first project, soft baby hats made from clean, recycled T-shirts will be crafted and included in safe birthing kits used by traditional birth attendants known as matrons in the poorest neighborhoods in Cap-Haitien, Haiti. The birthing kits, developed by Maine-based Konbit Sante Cap-Haitien Health Partnership as part of its program to reduce maternal mortality and improve women’s health, also includes plastic sheeting, hand sanitizer, sterile string, and a razor blade. The kits not only give matrons some of the basic tools they need to perform safe deliveries, but they provide an important incentive to visit a public health clinic monthly for continuing education with a Konbit Sante-sponsored OB/GYN, to report birth outcomes in the community, and to receive these supplies.

Mama to Mama’s goal is to gather as many caps as possible by December 10. To learn more about Mama to Mama and how to make caps for Cap-Haitien, please visit www.mamatomama.org. Konbit Sante would like to thank Amanda Blake Soule and all her crafting soulmates for their creativity and generosity.