Help Keep Girls in School

Provide Sanitary Pads for Women in Need

Millions of adolescent girls around the world go without menstrual hygiene management. Lack of access to proper sanitary hygiene lead some girls to resort to using dirty rags, ash, and corn husks during their menstrual cycle. As you can imagine these practices are unsafe and lead to other health issues.

A girl's journey into adolescence is a challenging time. Taboos, poverty, inadequate sanitary facilities, meager health education, and an enduring culture of silence create an environment in which girls are denied what should be a basic right: clean, affordable menstrual materials and safe, private spaces to care for themselves. Many adolescent girls in developing countries miss up to 5 days of school per month during their menstrual cycles. Menstrual products (disposable pads and cups) are too expensive for most families who live on less than $1 per day. Simply put, disposable sanitary pads cannot be a priority on such a small family budget. At least 62% of African girls lack adequate resources for managing menstruation (UNICEF and the World Health Organization). This inadequate access to sanitary pads leads to poor grades and low completion rates, setting young women up for a lifetime of struggle.

GreaterGood.org is partnered with MCODE (Mission for Community Development )(Uganda), Flame Tree Initiative (Malawi), and Wildlife Works (Kenya) to distribute reusable feminine hygiene kits to girls in need. This simple solution can increase the likelihood of girls' ability to stay in school and complete secondary school. This is an important milestone and one that the world is learning has an incredibly positive ripple effect on the lives of adolescent girls.

You can help. provides sanitary supplies to one schoolgirl for five years and improves their likelihood of completing secondary school.

Update From the Field

MCODE (Uganda)

MCODE's mission is to "empower needy individuals in order to improve their lives and promote community driven development." MCODE strives to attain this goal through supporting needy children to attain formal education and life changing vocational skills, and raising awareness of the community members on health, social and economic issues.

Flame Tree Initiative (Malawi)

We are excited to introduce you to Trinitas, Founder of Tina Pads in Malawi. Just last year donors like you, made it possible for GreaterGood.org to provide her with seed funding to start a menstrual hygiene business. She is now on her way to distribute 17,000 reusable pads to girls across Malawi!