Empowering Women and Girls
Our Owen High School Club’s Commitment to Fighting Period Poverty in Haiti
The Serve To LEAD Club at Owen High School is making reusable sanitary pads for community partners in Haiti. This project empowers women and girls by ensuring access to resources for health, dignity, and opportunities to thrive. By providing these essential products, students aim to eliminate barriers hindering women’s participation in school and business during menstrual cycles. Reusable sanitary pads are vital to our commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In rural developing countries, young girls and women face many challenges that prevent them from accessing education and healthcare.
Period Poverty: A Barrier to Education and Opportunity
In Haiti and similar nations, girls often miss school during their menstrual cycles due to a lack of sanitary products and running water. This shortage forces them to drop out, limiting educational opportunities and future prospects. This issue, known as period poverty, impacts millions of women and girls worldwide. When girls cannot attend school due to their period, it has significant consequences. Without adequate education, they become more susceptible to human trafficking, forced marriage, early death, and poor health. Providing access to menstrual hygiene products like reusable sanitary pads is an essential step toward breaking the cycle of poverty and gender inequality. By making these products available to women and girls, we help empower them to attend school, access better healthcare, and ultimately lead healthier, more productive lives.
Building Dignity and Health: The Power of Reusable Sanitary Pads
By tackling period poverty, we confront a crucial aspect of gender inequality. In societies where women and girls already face barriers to gender equality. Our sanitary pads project helps women reclaim their dignity and their future. We encourage greater participation in society, education, and the workforce by providing them with the tools they need to manage their menstrual health safely and comfortably.
Club students recognize that these small but significant steps toward alleviating period poverty are part of a broader effort to combat global gender inequality and improve community well-being. Through partnerships with local organizations in Haiti, we distribute reusable sanitary pads directly to those who need them most and have community members continue the project independently.
Our work is just beginning, and much remains to be done. However, with each pad we distribute, we move closer to ensuring that girls and women can access the education, health, and opportunities they deserve.
