For many ladies, buying disposal pads for our menses is second to nature. However, what happen if a lady/family is so poor that they can't afford disposable pads? I never thought about this until I started reading more about cloth pads. I came across articles about ladies in a family sharing a piece of dirty rag for the few special days of the month. They are so poor that they can't even afford to have their own piece of rag. The ladies suffered from hygienic related diseases and life threatening diseases like cervical cancer. Girls could not go to school when they have their menses. There were also cases that they were isolated in a hut outside their usual home so that they don't dirty their home.. :( Very sad to read...
Fortunately, there are some organisations out there who are working actively to help these deprived ladies.
Today, I saw this post about a meaningful NGO programme in Nepal organised by Taiwan National Tsing Hua University International Volunteer Group, Vision Youth Action Taiwan, and with the help of EasyLohas, provided some villagers in Nepal cloth pad materials and taught them how to sew cloth pads. It is very touching to see the photos.
Please see photos here:
http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/volunteer-nepal/article?mid=1588&prev=-1&next=1581
Please be sure to check out the last few photos where a husband helped the wife, a young man & a father sewing for their beloved girlfriend and wife. They are so sweet and loving...
For this activity, EasyLohas has made an easy to hand sew cloth pad pattern:
Other organisations working on the same cause:
1) Not just a piece of cloth - An organisation who collects used old cloths which are washed, sanitised and cut into 1 foot by 1 foot to make sanitary napkins for the poor.
2) http://www.donatepads.org/ - A website providing information on organisations accepting pads/money donations.
I am thinking to help even if it is only in a small way...
Bye now,
Anic
5 comments:
thank you for sharing this.. kita dah terbiasa senang dapat dan senang buang.. tak pernah terfikir pasal ada orang yang melaluinya begini rupa.. thanks anic
yeah.. things we have, we tend to take for granted..
knowing how much suffering others are going through.. make me appreciate more what i have and be grateful...
thanks for sharing this... how grateful it is to be here. I have never imagine that this is still happen now a day.... I remember 25 years ago, I used cloth pad made from kain sarong yang di potong kecil2 n dilipat.. that one during my early years of menses. There was not many disposable pad available at that time... and for sure, its quite costly for us that time.
yeah anic, i saw the husband's face and it strucked me..they knew how to sew?? wow..
Ya Mila.. I am very grateful to be here.. When I introduced cloth pads to a friend, she told me about her kain sorong pad when she was young.. :)
Lynn, yeah.. they are amazing. Among the volunteers who taught them how to sew cloth pads, i saw male volunteers as well. :)
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