A SHE advocacy awareness session.
Photo Credit: Perttu Saralampi
One of my favorite partners is an organization called Sustainable Health Enterprises, or SHE. I am excited to help share the news from SHE’s “HAHA team” (Health and Hygiene Advocacy), working to ensure long-term access to menstrual hygiene education and products (including the SHE LaunchPad). Recently the team invited 15 students from the Duha Complex School in Rwamagana to perform a skit on menstrual hygiene education. The workshop trained senior level students and their teachers about menstrual hygiene.
Here’s why I care about this. Million of girls and women in emerging nations miss school or work every month – up to 50 days per year – because they lack access to affordable, eco-friendly menstrual pads. When a pack of imported pads ($2.25 in Rwanda) costs more than what a person earns a day, many girls and women manage their periods by using cloths. Cloths, however, offer no guarantee of efficacy, security or comfort and moreover, negatively impact girls and women’s health because of lack of access to a clean, safe water supply to wash their cloths.
SHE is disrupting the status quo by designing the SHE LaunchPad: an innovative, chemical-free, low-cost menstrual product that utilizes banana-fiber as the absorbent core and will be priced to sell 75% less than imported premium brand products. Check out their site and read the incredible success stories!
