Bananas become cloth pads with SHE

a friend of mine sent me a link to a very interesting bit of news: one of the winnders of the Curry Stone Design Prize 2010 was a certain Elizabeth Scharpf and her SHE (Sustainable Health Enterprises). why, what did they do? they created a system of local micro-industry in rwanda with local women. and what do they produce? menstrual pads made from fibers a local plant: bananas.

it’s the same story that i’ve already written about: in many third world countries, girls and women, not having a way to deal with their menstrual period, miss several days a month from school or work. but instead of taking advantage of the donation of cloth menstrual pads from other countries (something that i participate in, too), SHE funds start up businesses in these areas so as to not only solve this problem, but also create jobs and empower women. to help out with this initiative, all you need to do is donate $28 to the SHE28 campaign , watch the video or become a fan on facebook.