I may be getting a little personal, but girls all over the world menstruate. It's hard for us in America to imagine that some girls in Africa, Haiti, Indonesia, China, and elsewhere stay home from school during their periods. Throughout the developing world, girls are less likely than boys to be enrolled in school. Girls miss school a few days every month, especially after puberty, and as a result, many drop out. One possible solution — one which has received particular attention in the last few years — is providing better sanitary products for school-age girls. I'll mention 3 organizations/companies that are addressing this issue:
Project Thrive, their motto, "World peace, one pad at a time."
Material is bought or donated and volunteers use patterns to sew and assemble feminine hygiene kits. The kits are then given to qualifying nonprofit organizations around the world. Days for Girls kits are around $4.50 each. I hope the ones I bought will help girls stay in school.
Procter & Gamble announced its support for the Protecting Futures Program which provides sanitary pads and hygiene education to girls in Africa. Their mission involves their products Always and Tampax: Protecting the Futures of Girls.
Clinton Global Initiative, its program, Sustainable Health Enterprise (SHE), funds locally-led businesses that will provide ecofriendly sanitary pads and hygiene education for 1 million girls and women in Africa by 2012.
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