Lunapads Blog

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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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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As you may recall, back in May we were contacted by Helen McGuirk, a volunteer with the US Peace Corps working in the Nyanza Province of Kenya. Pads4Girls donated $344 to fund her project to teach young girls how to sew their own cloth pads.

The project has now begun! Here is an update from Helen on it’s progress:

Hello Lunapads readers! We’ve started our sanitary pads educational program this week here in the Nyanza Province of Kenya. I ended up picking a design similar to the Lunapads design, for convenience and ease of use for the girls. They are also very quick to make, about 1.5 hours for completion!

We started with a small group of ten girls from Omiro Mixed Secondary School. This school was priority number one due to the girl’s daily interactions with the opposite sex (some schools in our location are female only). The schools has 110 females enrolled, so we are planning on 4 moregroups of 25 girls before the term ends in August.
We discussed the high cost of disposable pads and then I explained about the donations made so that they could have the materials to make their own re-usable pads, they are very grateful. Here is an online album that I will update regularly with photos of the project: http://bit.ly/kncnQ4.

The girls were so excited to work on this project and began asking many questions relevant to the subject. More to come soon, as the project is quickly gaining momentum! -Helen

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Back in October we received a donation request from Project Thrive, an organization that has been working hard to provide girls and women all over Africa with washable pads through their Days for Girls program. As you may recall, Lunapads helped out in getting The Days for Girls project started and we have been overjoyed to watch it grow over the years since. They accept donations of commercial and home-sewn cloth pads and other supplies to create “Hygiene Kits” for the girls. We were happy to offer them 35 pairs of Lunapanties and 500 Liner Inserts to help them meet their goal for the latest distribution.

Celeste from Project Thrive sent us the following story of how the distribution of the Kits in one community opened the door to discussion around FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) and ultimately led to the abandonment of the practice.

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My daughter turned 1 year old on a sunny Saturday this August and we threw her a backyard party. Our closest friends came with a great group of children. We danced, laughed, ate delicious food — all while making a difference in the lives of a few girls.

We purchased 10 Pads4Girls Kits through Lunapads. Rather than give traditional loot bags at her birthday party, we donated these meaningful kits. All the children and their families were told that they donated pads for girls in less privileged communities in the world. These girls would likely miss school without such necessities. Imagine giving a washable, reusable pad to a girl that has never had such a “luxury!”

Our family hopes to set a trend for parents and children alike. Rather than spend $100 on simple things that often get trashed, why not make a young woman smile across the globe.

We chose Pads4Girls because one day our little one will grow to be a young woman herself. The pads she will be introduced to by her mama will be washable. We will tell her as she grows that she helped other young girls achieve their goals and feel good about themselves.

Sarah Farhangi
www.doulamamas.com

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We are very excited to introduce our latest addition to the Pads4Girls recipient list; Project 61! Project 61 oversees multiple programs in community development in Ethiopia, including working to provide boarding school, clothing, family support and character development to the large orphan population of Korah.

Korah is a community of approximately 100,000 located near Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The community was established approximately 75 years ago to serve as a leper colony and provide residence for individuals with communicable diseases. As leprosy has been eliminated, it has developed a social stigma of poverty and illness. The community of Korah faces many challenges; however  poverty, lack of education and income generation are three key areas of concern.

Due to AIDS and poor living conditions, the community of Korah carries a high orphan population. A large majority of Korah’s children and orphans reside in the Addis Ababa city landfill which provides basic shelter and opportunity to gather food from the trash.

Through a newly-established sponsorship program through Project 61, approximately 250 Korah children will be enrolled in a private boarding school beginning September of 2010. Each student has been screened and required to attend a summer tutoring program to develop basic English, life skills and educational training. The students will be removed from the city landfill and provided daily meals, lodging, quality education and supervision.
Clothing and basic needs will be meet through the P61′s sponsorship program; however  hygiene products are a constant need. The support and provision of Pads4Girls will be a wonderful addition to the lives of the female students residing in the boarding school.

To donate Lunapads to the orphans of Korah, simply chose “Project 61: Pads 4 Korah” from the list of organizations on our Donate page.

Korah School Girls

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As many of you are already aware, Lunapads offers cost-priced Pads4Girls Kits that can be purchased by customers, which are then given to girls and birthing women in Africa.  The way it works is that we are approached by individuals or NGOs who work with girls and women in need (Imagine1Day Ethiopia and Shanti Uganda are two Vancouver-based examples) who we then add to the list of potential recipients for customer donations. Customers buy the kits, and we give them to the groups who then distribute them to the recipients – all good.

That said, like so many other things in life, Pads4Girls isn’t perfect.  First, the obvious problem that we can’t reach everyone who needs supplies.  Second, there are not always the necessary supporting resources available (education, water and stable living situations come to mind) in every community that make using cloth pads easy.  Finally, while Pads4Girls kits help thousands of girls and women, they are still being shipped half way around the world.  We are thrilled to tell you about a new initiative that takes this work several steps further, as well as how a little holiday gift-giving can help to support it.

Elizabeth Scharpf is as striking in person as her accomplishments and vision are on paper.  Tall, grounded, deeply compassionate and extremely smart were both my first and lasting impressions of her.  Elizabeth is the founder of Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE), a unique social profit that seeks to empower women and girls both physically and financially.

While working on economic policy (think World Bank and Clinton Foundation level) Elizabeth came to understand the impact that girls missing school and women missing work due to unmanaged menses was having.  She then asked herself what was going to make a bigger difference: the report that she was writing “that nobody was going to read anyway” (her words), or finding a way to help girls stay in school and women get back to work? Thus SHE was born.

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We are delighted to announce our deepened partnership with two amazing organizations (Shanti Uganda, Imagine1Day) who are doing groundbreaking work for girls and birthing women in Africa, and have an exciting update about another organization (Afripads) inspired by Lunapads.

Shanti Uganda
Last month, Madeleine represented Lunapads at the Shanti Uganda art auction fundraising dinner event which raised over $15,000 in support of the construction of a birth clinic, as well as supplies for birthing women.  The image below is of Ugandan Midwives with donated Lunapads that will be included in the birth kits.

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