Pads for Empowerment

Access to hygienic menstrual supplies is the difference between life and death. 

We aren't being dramatic. Lack of access to hygienic menstrual supplies affects over 500 Million women and girls annually.

 

HERE'S HOW:

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- 10% of girls worldwide miss school when they menstruate due to lack of supplies, illness caused by poor menstrual hygiene and cultural stigma. 

-20% of girls drop out of school when they get their periods because they fall too far behind in their studies from missing school. 

-Lack of hygienic menstrual supplies leads to millions of urinary and reproductive tract infections as well as the spread of bloodborne diseases.

-Nearly 800,000 women die annually due to lack of sanitary menstrual products as well as lack of access to clean water which affects their menstrual cycles. That makes this the fifth leading cause of death for women globally. 

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So what are we doing about it?

We've teamed up with an Obunga community seamstress, MIss Grace, to teach our staff and girls how to make washable, durable menstrual supplies. Each of our girls will be given their own set of menstrual supplies as well as some of our community partners who experience school drop out first hand from lack of access to affordable hygienic menstrual supplies. We started our Pads for Empowerment program to not only supply our community with affordable menstrual care but also to teach our girls a trade that they can use for their futures, both personally and professionally. Because of our tremendous donor support, this program is free and we have already enrolled 10 girls.

 

And who knows how far we can go? Because the need for affordable pads is a country wide need, we believe that we can continue to fill a need beyond our own community. And, by doing so, we can keep girls in school where they belong and keep women healthy and thriving!

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