I had always planned on having kids and feel very blessed to have 2 wonderful boys. As much as I would have loved to share the whole ‘first period experience’ with a daughter, I’ve had the period conversation with my boys. I mean, how could it not come up given both boys came to work with me when they were young, Lunapads are in my bathroom, and Lunapads is where Mum goes to work everyday? Here is a short video on my thoughts on being a working mom and why I think it is important for boys to grow into men who have a healthy respect for girls, women, and their bodies.

My thanks to the cameos in this video of Warren Te Brugge from My Arms Wide Open. Not only is he an advocate for girls and women in South Africa, he is an amazing role model to boys and men. By involving boys in his work to promote Pads4Girls (read about it here: “Education Equity: enabling girls to stay in school”) boys are not only gaining a better appreciation for the challenges girls face each month, but actively working with him to help find the girls who most need menstrual supplies. Look forward to a blog post and video from Warren very soon.

Please share with me your thoughts on being a mom to boys or why boys and men need to be part of the menstruation conversation! I’d love to hear from you!

The clock is ticking and the countdown is on for Lunapads’ owners Madeleine and Suzanne to wing their way over to Uganda as part of Shanti Uganda’s Yoga & Seva Journey. As part of their contribution, we are raising funds to enroll 300 teenage girls in Shanti Uganda’s At Risk Girls Program, a health and wellness program focused on inspiring futures for girls and teen mothers in Kasana Town Uganda. As part of the workshop, each girl will receive AFRIpads (Ugandan-made cloth pads based on Lunapads) and a health education manual.

Thanks to generous donations from our customers and friends we have raised enough so far to sponsor 124 girls to attend. We’re almost half way there but we need your help to get us to our goal!  For only $15 you can sponsor a girl to attend the workshop where she will receive life altering health education and washable menstrual products that will last her years and ensure that she can get the most out of her education. In case your not already aware of the immense impact that getting an education can have for a girl (not to mention her family and her entire country) in the developing world, check out this wicked video from The Girl Effect.

AND NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY:

Now, thanks to our generous sponsors DivaCup International your donation of $15 or more will enter you in a contest to win 1 of 5 DivaCup menstrual cups!

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We are always so excited to hear from our Pads4Girls partners about how our pads are making a difference to girls all over the world. Here is a recent update from Emily Wilson, a volunteer with the Sexual Rights Centre in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Emily started bringing pads to Zimbabwe in 2008, when she filled her suitcases with disposable maxi pads. Since then, she has been one of Pads4Girls most active distribution partners, bringing over 150 Pads4Girls Kits to distribute to some of the most at risk women and girls in Zimbabwe. To help Emily bring more Pads4Girls kits to the women of Zimbabwe, donate here and specify ‘Sexual Right Centre’ as the distribution group.

Salibonani! It’s Emily again. It’s been a long while since I posted an update about how your generous support is helping women in Zimbabwe. It was almost three years ago – in late 2008 – that I launched the first ‘maxi appeal’ amongst family and friends in Ottawa. At the time, I was overwhelmed by people’s interest and response to the initiative in Canada, and by the situations of the women in Zimbabwe whom I was delivering the pads to. It was one of the most difficult times in recent history for Zimbabweans, who were struggling to access the most basic items that we in Canada take for granted. I remember walking into grocery stores – one after the other – only to find empty shelves; the only available item for purchase seemed to be locally made laundry soap. I remember being met at the airport in Bulawayo by a taxi driver who, when he opened the trunk of his car to put my bags inside, nervously looked around as he repositioned two loaves of bread so that they wouldn’t get squashed; later he explained that bread was so hard to come by that he was afraid of being attacked if people knew he had some in his car. I remember changing my US dollars into the local Zimbabwean currency, and having to carry around bagfuls of it to buy anything; prices changed by the hour due to the unfathomably high inflation rates and I racked up my first ever 38 trillion dollar bill for a few basic items!

Things have changed in Zimbabwe since 2008. The creation of an inclusive government, which comprises the three main political parties, has led to the relative stabilization of the economy and a less volatile political situation. On my most recent trip to Zimbabwe, I noticed that things have visibly changed on some levels: grocery stores are full, businesses are functioning and streets are bustling. People are getting on with their daily lives, as we do here. However, the majority of Zimbabweans continue to live on less than one US dollar per day. The unemployment rate remains high and, even for those who are formally employed, the average income is not enough to cover the cost of living. This means that, for many women and girls in Zimbabwe, sanitary wear remains a luxury that many cannot afford. The Lunapads project in Zimbabwe therefore continues to address a real need and provide a tangible solution.

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As regular readers will be aware, over the past decade Lunapads has been developing the Pads4Girls program to bring reusable feminine hygiene supply kits to thousands of girls and women in need in over 15 countries. Pads4Girls seeks to address an often-overlooked problem that hundreds of millions of girls and women in developing nations face: missing school or work for several days every month because they lack adequate menstrual hygiene supplies. You can learn more about the issue and its impact on our site here, and in the Pads4Girls section of our blog.

Trying to determine how to make a bigger impact with Pads4Girls from a distance only goes so far, and we feel called to learn more and go deeper. In January 2012 Suzanne and I will be traveling to Uganda with Shanti Uganda, a Vancouver-based charity that improves infant and maternal health, provides safe women-centered care and supports the well-being of birthing mothers and women living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda.

We are appealing to the Lunapads community to raise funds to enroll 300 teenage girls in Shanti Uganda’s At Risk Girls Program, a health and wellness program focused on inspiring futures for girls and teen mothers in Kasana Town Uganda. As part of the workshop, each girl will receive AFRIpads (Ugandan-made cloth pads based on Lunapads, see below for more information about them) and a health education manual.

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In  May 2011 Pads4girls was contacted by Helen McGuirk, a Peace Corps volunteer working in Nyanza Province, Kenya. Helen was collecting funds to start a Female Hygiene Program to teach girls in schools how to sew their own cloth menstrual pads. Pads4Girls donated the remaining funds required in order for Helen to get her project off the ground. Here is the latest update on her progress and the amazing ripple-effect the program is having.

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Hello readers! It’s time for an update from Western Kenya, where girls are learning how to make their own sanitary pads (thanks to Lunapads) with locally available materials. The school term was short this year, so we were working extra hard to prepare and meet the students. From September through mid November two secondary schools and four primary schools were visited, a total of 368 girls were taught how to make their own re-useable sanitary pads and the basics of female hygiene.

These past few months were especially amazing for this project and as a Peace Corps Volunteer. There was so much support for our girls, it’s more than I was expecting. Most teachers were very eager to learn how to make them, and usually by my second visit to the schools the teachers were the ones arranging and making sure the students were doing everything correctly. I sat back with a huge smile on my face, because I know when I have to leave the message of helping our girls will stay behind in the community.

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Yesterday we had the extraordinary good fortune to be visited by some remarkable people working for change for Ethiopians, the leaders of Partners in the Horn of Africa, and Hope for Children.

Yewoinshet Masresha is an engaging and charismatic Ethiopian woman and the founder of Hope for Children, an organization which has received worldwide attention for its pioneering work in the care of women and children affected by HIV/AIDS.

A social activist from her early teens, Yewoinshet joined the Red Cross at age 17 during a period of political instability and war in Ethiopia. When she refused to marry a high ranking military official she was imprisoned in solitary confinement for three years. She emerged with a renewed strength and commitment to help women and children in need. The impact of  HIV/AIDS was having a profound effect on the country and many children were losing one or both parents to the virus. It was in response to this HIV/AIDS crisis that Yewoinshet founded Hope for Children, the first NGO in Ethiopia dedicated to the care of children affected by HIV/AIDS.

Yewoinshet shared her personal story with us firsthand, as well as describing life for most women and girls in Ethiopia. In many communities, for example, girls are expected to wash male visitors’ feet, and are given undesirable bits of meat, while their brothers receive choicer pieces. Education for girls is widely seen as being pointless, since they will end up married often before they even reach puberty. Yewoinshet also described a deeply negative and shame-based culture around menstruation, and the devastating effect that it has on girls’ self-esteem and education (a sadly familiar story, which for our part we are seeking to address in various nations via our Pads4Girls program.)

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For every comment posted below telling us what the Girl Effect means to you, Lunapads will donate $5 to Pads4Girls! Fundraising ends Friday, October 7th at 5pm PST.

Hey everyone! In case you didn’t already know, there’s a mighty blogging campaign starting today to raise awareness for the Girl Effect campaign. In case you’re new to the notion that educating girls is a major world-saving activity, please check out this brilliant video as an intro.

The Girl Effect’s mandate has always resonated for us here at Lunapads. Pads4Girls (our in-house program that provides low-cost versions of Lunapads and Lunapanties to girls in developing nations so they don’t miss school while they’re having their periods) is our “angle” in supporting the amazing goal of educating the developing world’s 600 million girls.

But wait, there’s more!

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Shanti Uganda is a fantastic organization that improves infant and maternal health, provides safe women-centered care and supports the well-being of birthing mothers and women living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda. In addition to that, they havebeen a Pads4Girls distribution partner for years now, providing cloth pads to girls through their Holisitic Health programmes and to new mothers at the Shanti Uganda Birth House & Learning Centre. Natalie Angell, co-founder and Executive Director of  The Shanti Uganda Society shares her personal experience with Lunapads while building a Birth House in rural Uganda, after childbirth and also distributing reusable pads to women and teens in Uganda. Natalie is an incredible Vancouver woman whose vision and mission we at the Lunapads office are big fans of.

Shanti Uganda Giveaway!
Natalie has graciously shared some crafts from the women’s sustainable income generating group for us to give away. Leave a note here about your travels with reusables or experience in activism to win a yoga mat bag, banana bag and some hand rolled, paper beaded jewelry! Webale (thank-you in Lugandan) Natalie!

I started using Lunapads during my first trip to Uganda in 2007.  At the time I was using organic cotton, chlorine free disposable pads and tampons and had long given up my relationship with tampax (and the impending fever, cramps and sweat that they caused after about 15 minutes).

In 2007, I founded The Shanti Uganda Society and shared my time between Uganda and Canada.  In Uganda, there was no option to purchase my less toxic menstrual products and filling a suitcase with a few months supply of chlorine free menstrual products seemed like a silly way to pack. Making the switch to Lunapads took up far less room in my suitcase and I could easily hand wash and dry them. I also loved how soft and comfy they were – much better than plastic lined pads in the hot climate!

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LunaCycle Sampler Pack Giveaway!
Are you a cyclist? What products do you use when biking on your period? Share your biking-while-menstruating thoughts with us here and be eligible to win a LunaCycle Sampler Pack!

When the new Luna Cycle printed Lunapads and Pantyliners arrived in our warehouse, I was reminded of a good friend of mine who is currently riding her own Moon Cycle across North America and will soon be spanning the entire continent of Africa on her bicycle.

Some might ask why take a bike safari and why call it a Moon Cycle?  Brenna is fundraising for The Shanti Uganda Society, who we at Lunapads are also fans & supporters.  The Shanti Uganda Society’s mission is to improve infant and maternal health, provide safe women-centered care and support the well-being of birthing mothers and women living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda. Their vision is a world where birthing mothers and women living with HIV/AIDS are supported, empowered and able to develop to their full potential, valuing community participation, unity, sustainability and traditional knowledge.  Worth the trip, right?

Their projects range from a fully functioning and environmentally friendly (rain water catchment system, solar powered) Birth House and Learning Centre, Teen Girls workshops and a sustainable income generating group for women experiencing HIV and poverty.  Part of their projects is reusable menstrual pad distribution; our Pads4Girls project has been a direct partner.

Shanti Uganda Teen Girls with Reusable Pads

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