Growing up in Zimbabwe, I know first-hand what period poverty is. As a young girl, I dreaded going to school when my period came. The reason being that I personally spoiled my seat several times and also witnessed many girls do the same thing.  The embarrassment was indescribable. Boys sheepishly walked around you.  Everyone knew what had happened when a girl walked from class to class with a jersey or Blazer tied around the waist. Many girls simply did not come to school when they got their period. Sanitary pads are expensive and out of reach for many women and girls in these settings and tough choices have to be made each month. Do we have money for grinding mealie meal or pads let alone bread? Missing school affects the performance of girls and their chances of success, perpetuating a vicious cycle in societies where the education of girls is not deemed as very important. Period poverty is real and is a precursor of other forms of poverty including economic poverty.

This experience did not leave me and nudged me over the years. The nudge then inspired me to come up with a sustainable solution-functional, affordable and reusable and environmentally friendly sanitary pads. I shared the idea with my neighbour, friend and new mum. I bought material and cut out the first pad. My neighbour cut out and sew another. Theres then cut out and sew different sizes and overtime perfected the idea.

We invited young girls, friends and other women to test the pads for utility. For the past six months Dec 2020, my daughter and I have only used these. We also had some women test these products. The result was consistently positive. The wearing comfort was better than with purchased «plastic»-products.