Days for Girls Sonia Hercilia

Sonia patted the bed. "Join me," she said, with a gesture because words were too hard. She knew. I knew. It would be our last time together, for a while. We snuggled up like little girls, whispering final secrets, feeling each other's warmth. 

Sonia spoke softly, "There's so much more to do." She worried about the Sunday School children, her little store, the women's groups in Tonaca, the new health center at the church, all the children she watched out for on her pasaje, and el taller. El taller - the workshop is the short name everyone uses to refer to the Days for Girls Women's Project in Los Héroes. Sonia was the heart, the motivator, the trained educator, and the business manager for the project. Most importantly, she believed in the rights of girls and boys to have access to accurate education about their bodies and was committed to giving girls what they need to feel confident and prepared for menstruation.

"We will keep your work going," I promised. "Yami is prepared. You taught her and the team very well."

"Yes," said Sonia. It's true. Sonia taught them well.

We talked about her family. She includes us as family. We will always be family. 

When it was time to go, I whispered into Sonia's ear, "If Deb comes for you, you can go with her." Deb left us a while back, but in a mysterious way, Deb has been with us all along.

"Yes, I'll go with her."

"Good-bye, Sonia."

"Good-bye, Linda"

On the second day of November, we covered Sonia's resting place with flowers. She surely smiled at the roses. Throughout her illness, roses brought Sonia joy.

En memoria: Sonia Hercilia Fuentes Coto

On a very rainy afternoon, the Los Héroes Days for Girls team sat in a circle, surrounded by piles of flannel pads and cotton liners, discussing ideas and eating pizza. We spent the morning opening up suitcases and bins, organizing donated fabric, inventorying DFG kit components and checking completed kits. Sewing and sorting days have always given the women on the team a chance to talk freely  about their struggles, their worries, their relationships and their kids. The main topic of the morning was menopause. By the time we ordered the pizza, rain was hammering the rooftop with such force that we couldn't chat at all, and we just had to wait it out laughing and working and playing with the baby. Over the years, a number of babies have been part of the Days for Girls team as their moms cut, sewed and ironed.

Yami at work at the serger with her little niece helper 

Eventually the rain let up, the pizza arrived, kids were sent off to school for the afternoon, the baby napped and we identified a list of concrete plans for 2026. The team, which includes Sonia's daughters, chose a new name for the project: Days for Girls Sonia Hercilia. The team wanted to blend the English words, Days for Girls, with Sonia's first and middle name, to acknowledge the inseparable relationship between the Wisconsin and Salvadoran Days for Girls teams and honor the focus of Sonia's heart: our shared commitment to bring education and resources to the girls who are most in need.

The Los Héroes Days for Girls Sonia Hercilia team received this box of kits from British Colombia. About 2/3 of the washable menstruation kits which are given out are made in Los Héroes. The majority of the donated kits come from Hope ELCA in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, which is a chartered chapter of Days for Girls International and provides the structure to ensure the kits made in Los Héroes meet the gold standard set by DFG International.

In January 2026, the team received donations of fabric from St. John's in Brookfield, Wisconsin and kit components from another Greater Milwaukee Synod Days for Girls production team which will no longer be sewing kits. For the Salvadoran and Wisconsin team members, networking and sharing resources are keys for making the Days for Girls Sonia Hercilia project ecological, sustainable and wide-reaching. 

Team members sort the latest donations.

The 2026 Sewing Season for Days for Girls Sonia Hercilia is just getting started. On January 24th, Yami experienced her first day of teaching girls in small groups and giving out kits at the Los Héroes Back-to-School Open House. Yami also made some connections that day with leaders from a nearby town with the hope of leading a workshop there with students. The team members miss Sonia terribly, but we encourage one another to conquer the nerves that come with stepping into new roles of responsibility, and we are all very excited about developing new products and new education materials to help meet the needs of girls and women of all ages in the community.

For those who are more deeply engaged or want to learn more, please refer to the excerpts from the 2026 Days for Girls Sonia Hercilia Work Plan and Budget which follow this story. For those who may wish to support this project, a QR code is included below. 

July 2025 - The last time Sonia taught and gave out Days for Girls kits at a local school. Sonia lost her life to breast cancer in October. Throughout her illness, she was committed to teaching young people how to care for their changing bodies. She also taught women about breast cancer and men about prostate health. 

Excerpts from the 2026 Days for Girls Sonia Hercilia Plan de Trabajo (Work Plan)

Team:

Roxana, Karla, Yesenia, Lorena, Monica, Linda, Carol, Tim

Advisors: Pastor Francisco, Dr. Yanett

We work as a team

Each team member has their own strengths and responsibilities. We make decisions by consensus to maintain an atmosphere of friendship, kindness, and transparency.

This ministry: Heroes in Faith Lutheran Church Days for Girls Sonia Hercilia operates as an affiliate of the Days for Girls team at Hope ELCA, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA, which authorizes Days for Girls Sonia Hercilia to use the intellectual property of Days for Girls International. The Days for Girls team at Hope Church produces a significant number of DFG kits each year, which are also distributed by the Los Héroes team.

We create a welcoming space

Days for Girls Sonia Hercilia The 28-year tradition of sewing projects as a form of outreach ministry at Heroes in Faith Lutheran Church continues. The specific Days for Girls kit-making project began in 2017 with two main goals:

• Providing menstrual care to girls and young women with Days for Girls kits (washable sanitary pads) and reproductive health education talks, and

• Create a safe space for women to make kits and build mutually supportive friendships centered on faith and love.

The women involved have been and continue to be women of diverse ages, but primarily mothers who need childcare while acquiring useful skills. They share a sense of pride in creating a product essential to women's lives and value the time they spend together learning, working, talking, sharing, and supporting one another. There are always opportunities for women to volunteer (organizing, preparing kits, helping with the children) and to learn more about this ministry.

Production and distribution plan for 2026

• The main objective of  Days for Girls Sonia Hercilia involves creating free kits for girls aged 9 and up and providing education on menstruation and reproductive health (for both girls and boys).

• A new initiative focuses on developing specific kits for women in the perimenopausal and menopausal stages. These larger kits will be distributed along with information about menopause.

• The team will also develop specialized kits for postpartum mothers. These larger kits can also help women with urinary incontinence.

• Details about the operation of the Days for Girls Sonia Hercilia team:

• The sewing team will meet at the Los Héroes church on Wednesdays and Fridays to prepare the kits.

• The team members responsible for organizing the materials and delivering the talks will work as needed on different days.

• For each full day of work, each woman will receive a support payment of $7.

• Together with Nurse Lorena and Dr. Yanett, the Days for Girls Sonia Hercilia team will conduct workshops at the church, extending invitations to specific groups (CELH girls, church families, Family Circle mothers, Tonaca women's groups, etc.).

• The Days for Girls Sonia Hercilia team will participate in the annual events for women held in Tonacatepeque Park in March and November, sharing kits and education.

• The Days for Girls Sonia Hercilia team is open to receiving invitations to give talks and share kits with churches in the Northern Synod Council, nearby schools, and small communities in need located in the northern region, as the team has done for several years. The number of kits available always depends on the donations and fundraising needed to produce them.

Funding and materials plan for 2026

• The budget is $300 per month to cover the financial support of the sewing team members and for the purchase of materials.

• US donors can support the project by sending funds through Los Héroes' sister churches: St. John's Lutheran Church and All Peoples Lutheran Church (ELCA Greater Milwaukee Synod) or Hope ELCA (Eau Claire).

• An annual grant from the First Lutheran Church (Milwaukee Synod) helps sustain the project, especially to help with maintenance of the sewing equipment.

• This ministry relies on materials donated by St. John's, Hope, All Peoples, and First Lutheran churches. The plastic, snaps, and DFG labels are purchased in the United States, as they are not available in El Salvador.

Use this giving link or scan the code and choose the account labeled "El Salvador." The funds are transferred to the Salvadoran Lutheran Church from the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the ELCA on a bi-monthly schedule.