Description
What if the key to keeping girls in school, maintaining their dignity, and breaking the cycle of poverty could fit in a ziploc bag?
Days for Girls has worked to create a simple and effective solution for feminine hygiene by starting with the basics: we make washable hygiene kits.
What if not having access to feminine hygiene supplies meant DAYS without school, DAYS without income, DAYS without leaving the house? Girls use leaves, mattress stuffing, newspaper, corn husks, rocks, anything they can find...but still miss up to 2 months of school every year. It turns out this issue is a surprising but instrumental key to social change for women all over the world. The poverty cycle can be broken when girls stay in school.
Here's how Days for Girls kits make a difference:
1.) Pads keep girls in school. According to UNESCO, 5 out of 10 girls in Kenya lack access to pads. When girls miss up to a week of school every month, not having access to pads can have a big impact on education.
2.) Pads help women go to work.56% of women in Sindh, Pakistan said that it was difficult to work in the fields during menstruation. When women make up between 36% and 60% of the agricultural work force, ensuring that women have the resources they need not only helps them, but also makes communities and nations stronger.
3.) Pads bring girls out of isolation. Lack of access to pads leaves girls isolated. In Nepal, 28% of girls reported sleeping apart from their families during menstruation. In Gujarat, India, 91% of girls reported staying away from flowing water during menstruation. Eunice from Uganda summarized best how Days for Girls kits combat this. She explained, "If I was menstruating I [would] just hide. Now I will be free...because I don't have to worry about leaking. I can just stay with people."
4.) Pads help women no longer feel ashamed. 90% of girls in rural Ghana reported feeling ashamed during their periods. Days for Girls reminds girls that menstruation is natural, and that we have this process to thank for the existence of every human being on earth!
5.) Pads give girls the confidence to succeed. Noreen from Kenya said it best. "When we have those kits, we can do something great in this world. Without education we have nowhere to go, and we can achieve our goals now." Kits remind girls that they are beautiful, important, and worthy of health and dignity.
6.) Washable pads don't create additional waste. Disposable pads can create waste, especially in places without good sanitation facilities. Days for Girls kits are washable with little water, dry easily, and last for up to three years. This is good for girls, and for the earth.
7.) Washable pads help women in remote areas. When it's difficult for women to get to a store to buy pads, having something that lasts longer helps them. Days for Girls kits help women save time and resources.
8.) Washable pads are cost-effective. Even if a month's supply of pads costs $1, women will need to spend $36 for three years. Days for Girls kits cost $10, providing a $26 savings.
9.) Washable pads provide women and girls the solution they ask for. The Days for Girls kit went through 27 different iterations before we felt we'd created a product that truly matched what women and girls wanted. This is their design. Today, we are also teaching them to make kits themselves, and to create enterprises, and to serve as Ambassadors of Women's Health in their communities.
Through honoring their wisdom, through listening, and through partnership, Days for Girls is confident that together, we can reach Every girl. Everywhere. Period. By 2022. There are a lot of things in this world that are difficult to change, but this isn't one of them. You too can lift up millions of girls and women who have been waiting to live their lives unbound. You too can join the movement today.
