What we see here are 94 reusable menstrual pads that will be part of some period kits for school girls in Tanzania. I need to make 2 more in order to put 4 in each of these drawstring bags along with a couple ziploc freezer bags for transporting used pads and some panties. When these young women have their periods they have to miss school and often that means they get behind enough that they just quit going.
I was a part of making these kits a few years ago via a local friend who was traveling to visit a Tanzanian friend. We learned how much these were appreciated and asked if anyone was interested in making more. Then the holidays came, followed by Covid, etc. and anyway… I don’t know if anyone else has been working on this and I don’t know all the details of the finished kits. So I still need to find out how the panties thing goes before they are done-done.
The exteriors are two identical pieces of flannel. One side has two layers of cotton batting sewn to it with a channel sewn into the center. The other has 2 layers of cotton batting on top of a moisture barrier as is used in cloth diapers only secured around the edges. Velcro is used on the “wings” to secure the pad.
This is a big project to work up but it will be HUGE for the recipient. Kudos to you for making a stranger’s life better in such a personal way. Really powerful.
Thanks everyone. I do just hope that once they receive these and get used to having some control over and freedom from this utterly basic life process that they will just go about making the most of their schooling and forget all about the stranger in a strange land.
Thanks so much, everyone! I am truly glad that I was let in on the original project and that I have had the ability to do 24 kits! I’m a little nervous that the panties part is going to “break the bank” but there is no deadline, so I can spread out the purchases.
To echo what everyone else said this is so amazingly awesome of you.
Anytime there’s a food drive I get baby food, whenever there’s a clothing drive I get diapers, whenever there’s a supply drive I buy feminine products. We have no idea how many people are in need of basic supplies that we take for granted. Even cleaning supplies, shampoo, and detergent are needed.
Some time ago my friend needed to ask for help from the foodbank. I was truly shocked to see the contents of her food parcel. The foodbank needs to work with what they’re given, and they’re doing the best they can, but as a single woman she got several kilo’s of Christmas cookies and sweets every week (the first few months of the year at least) a lot of unhealthy processed food, only small amount of fresh veggies and not much else.
She left some things there because of her allergies, but she was able to trade some things with other visitors of the foodbank, since not everyone had a fridge to store fresh food in. They didn’t have any allergy-proof food at all. So ever since I try to donate healthy & allergy-proof staples like dairy-free milk, gluten-free pancake mix, wholewheat pasta, canned vegetables without added salt etc. I honestly had never thought about feminine products before but I’ll add them to my list! I have a gut feeling many mothers are doing without so they can provide for their kids.
I can get deeply angry that it is even a thing that needs doing - sending feminine care products to another continent. I mean, about half the human population has been menstruating since literally the FOREVER OF HUMANS and having a way to maintain daily life during a cycle just isn’t a thing that many uber-patriarchal societies care to bother with. Even if we’re just talking practices not keeping up with changes brought about in “modern times” - modern times are decades or centuries long in many of these places. Obviously, disposable items aren’t necessarily a reasonable expectation, but reusable solutions totally are. The fact that everywhere there is still shame associated with a process that half the humans experience for probably more than half their lives and is part of how ALL HUMANS exist at all is infuriating.
SOOOOO, I try to just focus on happy and relieved young women getting as much education as possible, and just imagine them studying and smiling.
I love the fact that these things start breaking the cycle! These young ladies may be mothers themselves someday. Having the experience of usable hygiene products will hopefully encourage them to continue this tradition so the next generation of girls can push past this societal barrier. Amazing how something we take for granted really changes lives.
