OUR MISSION.
BIG IMPACT, SMALL SANITARY PAD.
SEE THE TIMELINE OF OUR MIRACLE PAD BELOW.
Water hyacinth is extracted from waterways, and processed into a cotton-like material. All materials used in our pads are completely organic and biodegradable.
From there the materials are used by our women manufacturers who are trained in the process of producing our biodegradable sanitary pads.
Finished, the pads are completely biodegradable, and thanks to our wonderful and generous donors, provided to girls and women who cannot afford the most basic sanitary protection.
The finished pads are packaged and given to local women who sell the pads to other girls and women in the surrounding area.
The most vulnerable, at-risk women and girls are given the education they need to properly use and dispose of the pads safely. The pads will stay out of overburdened landfills and decompose naturally within three months.
Armed with the right protections and knowledge to use our pads effectively, girls in our communities don’t miss any school during their periods. As a result, they are more likely to graduate and break out of the cycle of oppression and poverty they inherited.
The vulnerable women who manufacture and sell the pads recieve gainful, respectful employment and the economic independence to affect their situation in a positive way.
And it all starts with a simple sanitary pad.
1. EMPOWERMENT.
Our mission is to provide women in desperate, abusive situations with dignified employment that will empower them to improve their lives and the lives of their families.
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When women are free to earn an income statistics show they will put more than 80% of it towards the education of their children, helping break the cycle of poverty for future generations.
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Without access to proper hygiene products, adolescent girls miss crucial learning days in school - often a week per month - which can result in poor performance on exams, dropping out, and being forced into early marriage. Our sanitary pads will help girls stay in school during their periods.
Girls who receive seven or more years of education marry four years later, have 2.2 fewer children, and do not become child brides. They earn higher incomes, have healthier, better-educated children, and are less likely to end up in abject poverty.
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Educated girls are empowered girls.
BREAKING THE CYCLE.
Empowering Women Period offers two points of intervention to break the endless cycle of oppression and poverty many women and girls face on a daily basis.
Our pads offer women economic independence.
Our pads keep girls in school.
2. SUSTAINABILITY.
For many girls around the world, using husks, ash, or leaves may be their only option for menstrual care and protection. Many girls don’t have access to running water, soap, or the privacy they need in order to reuse a sanitary cloth or pad. Tampons or menstrual cups are also often considered taboo in many of these communities.
Our biodegradable sanitary pads will provide necessary protection without jeopardizing the health or safety of girls, harming the environment, or adding to exorbitant waste issues that plague the communities where we operate. Whenever possible we use water hyacinth — a rapidly growing weed that brings many economical and environmental issues affecting fresh water all over the world.
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Our mission is to create sustainable, gainful employment for vulnerable women. Our approach is not to simply distribute our pads to those in need — we want to create a model that is completely self-sustaining, so the women we employ may operate independently, indefinitely.
3. EDUCATION.
Every girl deserves the right to pursue an education. Yet without safe, effective sanitary protection, it’s not possible for girls to leave their homes, let alone go to school while menstruating.
As a result, 2 out of 10 girls are forced to drop out.
Our sanitary pads, made by women for women, will provide vulnerable girls with access to safe sanitary protection.
No girl should be forced to miss school because of her period.
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We also recognize the importance of menstrual health education in the communities we serve. Harmful myth and superstition surrounding menstruation, in addition to a lack of access to safe and effective sanitary protection lead to shame and humiliation that keeps girls confined to their households during their periods. We disseminate menstrual and public health education along with our sanitary pads.