What’s a #SHEro anyway?
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
At SHE, we believe that access to menstrual pads is a basic health necessity. So why are there communities that still lack access to them? Women and girls living in Rwanda’s refugee camps struggle to obtain affordable pads on a daily basis. Income opportunities are sparse within the camps and allocation of this basic necessity is inconsistent.
Donated pads haven’t proven to be sustainable for women and girls who need them most. So we’ve partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Rwanda to launch our Refugee Ambassador Program to provide a solution to this issue. Starting with the Nyabiheke Refugee Camp, we’ve trained 49 refugee women ambassadors who have educated 4,603 women, girls, and community members on healthy menstrual hygiene practices. Ambassadors have already started earning income from hosting community education sessions and can better provide for themselves and their families. In 2019, ambassadors will start selling go! pads within the camp community to expand access to affordable go! pads to more girls and women in need.
Photos courtesy of Jonathan Wallen.
Did you know that drones are now delivering blood and medical supplies to hospitals in Rwanda? While we haven’t mastered aerial distribution of go! pads, we’ve got some accomplishments that we think are a big deal. We’ve reached over a million people to date through education and advocacy, our go! pads are currently featured in the latest Smithsonian exhibit at the Gates Foundation, and we’re working with refugee camps in Rwanda to improve girls’ and women’s menstrual hygiene. Our productivity this quarter is thanks to SHEroes like you who support our mission!
go! Got a New Look
We make go! pads for girls so they should be designed by girls, right? Earlier this year we started a new go! pad packaging pilot supported by Johnson & Johnson’s Sustainability team to get girls’ feedback on the pad’s size, educational brochures, sales appeal, and overall look. Girls shared that they like the discrete brown paper backing of the go! pads, how easily they fit inside of pockets, and being able to purchase a 3-pack of pads if they can’t afford a whole pack. We’re wrapping up our pilot program to finalize any changes and making sure that girls have a say in the design of their menstrual pads. Stay tuned!
What’s the Real Price of Periods?
In 2009, we calculated the cost of periods to be a GDP loss of $115 million in Rwanda from women missing work. SHE28 is our solution to the global period poverty issue and we’ve already tested the waters on expansion in Zimbabwe. CNN’s latest article, When pads are a luxury, getting your period means missing out on life, reports on period poverty’s impact on school girls and working women in Tanzania. Read what SHE CEO and Founder Elizabeth Scharpf had to say about the issue in the article. If you’ve never thought about missing out on daily activities due to your period, use CNN’s period poverty calculator to find out.
Our Impact To Date
