No Girl Should Miss School. PERIOD!
Hope For Her is a social enterprise, with one mission in mind; that every woman and girl has access to clean, affordable and quality sanitary products. As a husband and wife team, we are social entrepreneurs, the founders of a not for profit organisation called ‘Restore a Smile Foundation’, (www.restoreasmile.org) that has been set up to help people move from crisis situations to stability. Through Restore a Smile and one of its initiatives, Blessing Bags (providing hygiene packs to homeless woman), we unearthed a massive social and health issue. We realized that many woman and girls use unhygienic alternatives to sanitary pads, which puts them at risk of infection. Poor menstrual hygiene has negative effects on both the environment and health of girls and women, and can also diminish economic opportunities. With that in mind, we set out to manufacture biodegradable compostable sanitary pads, which are gentle on the body and the environment.
Fighting period poverty one sanitary pad at a time!
We aim to address period poverty with a "buy one, give one" model. For every pack of sanitary pads purchased, another will be given to someone who can't afford one. We have the power to make life a tiny bit better for society’s most vulnerable people.
Why empower women and girls?
Female students face great challenges in terms of hygiene. As a result, many girls miss school every month, falling behind in class and sometimes even drop out of school altogether. They are held back by a process which is natural and unavoidable. Some of the problems faced are the expense of commercial sanitary pads. Lack of sanitary pads often leads to social challenges, like not being able to attend school that can prevent girls and women from reaching their full potential. The reason we put women and girls at the heart of our work is because our experience shows that when women are healthy and educated, their families will be too. And when women earn money, they invest it in the health and education of their children and families. It’s a wise investment, a powerful way to create lasting change.
Every single girl deserves access to safe and clean sanitary pads.
Our aim is to challenge the way the world views a period. Wearing a sanitary pad does not only improve physical health, it will also restore dignity. The core focus of our initiative is to make sure that girls and woman have a dignified period. Hope for HER will supply disposable, sustainable sanitary pads to schools, shelters and prisons within the City of Canning Area. Our vision is to lift barriers and restore hope and dignity to woman and girls in our very own communities. Hope For Her is raising funds to bring half a container of pads to provide free sanitary pads to all females that cannot afford it. The cost associated with manufacturing and shipping a container to Australia is $10 000. This could be the answer to Period Poverty.
Let’s end Period Poverty!
So many girls and woman will benefit from the project. The project will have an impact on health status of girls and woman through improvement in the health status and personal hygiene as a result of using the sanitary pads. They will no longer have to use unhygienic materials like old pieces of cloth, old socks or toilet paper that most of them are currently using during their period.
A lack of access to feminine hygiene products is a serious problem in Australia. The issue was once deemed only prevalent in third world countries, but that's simply no longer the case: more young women than ever are struggling to afford pads.
This project will be on-going and is envisioned to address not only girls in Canning district but also those in other rural regions in Western Australia.
Gives girls and women's basic needs- they will start to rebuild their lives and, eventually, their country."
Help girls stay in school, earn living wages, and destigmatize menstruation by donating to our campaign #PADSforPROGRESS. With your help, we hope to help girls focus on their education, not menstruation! This can only be possible because of ongoing support from people like you. Be part of a community of compassionate people reaching out to help empower girls and women, changing their lives and their world. Together, we can bring an end to period poverty and create a better world for all.
Please donate now. Reach out and empower a girl and woman to live with dignity.
