After going on a humanitarian trip to Guatemala, Tess Wolfert noticed how the lack of access to feminine hygiene products has an impact on the lives on young girls around the world.
On Feb. 3, the UVU Women’s Success Center organized a Days for Girls event where volunteers assembled and packaged over 1,000 feminine hygiene kits for girls living in Nepal.
According to Wolfert, a student and organizer of the event, girls who can’t afford sanitary products during their menstrual cycles will miss a great deal of school and end up staying home, in countries where pads or tampons aren’t readily available.
“They will miss so much school and get so behind that they’ll end up just dropping out. They do have alternatives such as newspaper, magazines or corn husks but that way they get infections and get sick,” said Wolfert.
According to the Days for Girls non-profit organization, after distributing hygiene kits to girls in Uganda, school absence rates dropped from 36 percent to 8 percent.
The kit making lasted for five hours and exceeded last year’s goal of 500 kits. Several UVU clubs volunteered at the event.
The feminine hygiene kits include eight panty-liners, two hold liners, a washcloth, underwear and a bar of soap, along with a gallon-sized Ziploc bag to wash the liners in. The liners are reusable and one liner can last up to two years. The kits are decorated in a variety of colors and floral designs to make them look enjoyable and reduce the negative connotation associated with girls who are on their menstrual cycles. The kits come with a visual instruction sheet and a calendar to help track their menstrual cycle.
Wolfert along with another humanitarian organization, Choice Humanitarian, will travel to Nepal to distribute the kits.
“I figured it would be a great opportunity for us to get involved with the service here in the community that will help people abroad,” said Dalton Gosper, member of the Army ROTC Club at UVU.
