Pads for Girls

With the support of local teachers and mentors, we visit secondary schools to talk about a topic that is still considered taboo in rural Ethiopia… periods! Almost all of the girls we meet don’t have access to sanitary items.

What do we provide?

• Each girl receives 8 washable cotton pads and 2 pairs of underwear, providing them with worry-free cover for at least two years.
• Education around managing their periods and using the pads.
• Ongoing support from key female teachers.

All for just $10 per girl.

Where do the pads come from?

Freweini Mebrahtu is an Ethiopian woman who decided no girl should miss school because of their periods. So she opened a factory in her home town of Mekelle with the aim to produce sanitary pads that are sustainable; affordable and environmentally friendly.

Since 2009, nearly 800,000 girls and women have benefited from her work.

Freweini has now trained and employs close to 50 women to sew the pads from locally sourced materials. Freweini’s factory provides maternity leave and was the first factory in Ethiopia to provide a free daycare to workers.

In 2019 Freweini was named the CNN Hero of the Year! Our Pads for Girls initiative hopes to reach as many girls as possible, so we can help Freweini see her vision of Ethiopia, where all women have access to sanitary pads.

How can you get involved?

You can buy one girl a set of pads for just $10.

To make a tax-deductible donation specifically to our Pads for Girls project, please use the form below.