Around the world, there are women who are in need of menstrual products. Usually this is because they are in developing countries where modernisation has brought schools and work conditions, putting the girls and women in a situation where they need something to use for their menstruation.
Disposable products are either too expensive or not available, and the things they often use instead (bark, newspaper or leaves etc.) are not affective enough. As a result, many women and girls have to be absent from work or school while they menstruate - which is a huge loss of school or work time. Some girls quit school once they start menstruating.
More information can be found on my website:
This is something I feel very passionately about - I have been working with a couple of different organisations over the last couple of years, to get cloth pads and breast pads donated to women in developing countries. I've personally sewn up over 400 pads to donate, as well as collecting about the same amount of pads others have sewn and sent them off to different organisations. If this is an issue you feel passionate about too, you can help in one of the following ways:
Buy pads to donate - I will usually have pad sets that you can purchase for a discounted price, that will be sent to the nominated organisation. This is a useful option if you want to send pads, but can't sew yourself. Of course, you don't just have to buy pads from me - there are a few other pad makers who offer donation pads - check the Donate Pads website for links to them.
Contribute to postage - While I can sew up pads, mostly with fabrics donated to me, we need contributions to cover postage costs - as International shipping can be quite high. Every bit helps!
Send fabric/Supplies to me - The more supplies that I get donated to me, the more pads I am able to make to donate to women in need. So if you have any spare supplies, or would like to make a contribution (you could buy online for example and have it shipped to me instead), please let me know. In particular, things I need are:
Flannelette - I need some white for insides of AIO pads, and some pretty but discreet (nothing too wild or with writing on it)for Fold-Up pads.
PUL - I like to make sure all the donated pads are waterproofed with PUL, and there is also the need for PUL in wetbags. While I can use nappy offcuts for making pads, larger pieces are needed for making wetbags
Notions - Other stuff that gets used up when making donation pads - which I'm happy to cover, but if you felt like sending in with any fabric scraps or something, I'd certainly appreciate it :) Thread (white is most used), overlocker cones (again white is mostly used), sewing machine needles, cotton twill tape (for making belted pads and straps on base+insert pads). I was given a huge amount of light pink and dark purple snaps, but other colours (such as white or black) would also be appreciated to help colour-match a bit better.
Sew Pads Yourself! - If you can sew and want to help this cause, sew up some cloth pads and donate them directly to whichever charity you prefer. One thing usually not thought of is underwear - the women these pads go to, usually don't wear underpants... so organisations have to include underpants with the donations. While you could go buy some - the size might not be right, and cloth pads are best used with snug fitting underpants... so if you can sew, you might like to consider making some string bikini type underpants - with ties at the sides... which can then be a little more adjustable to help get a good fit.
Donate to the organisations - There are organisations that will accept donations of money that are used to buy supplies, and in some cases these money donations help set women up in businesses making cloth pads. Details can be found on the Donate Pads website
