Mammas Laef Washable Sanitary Pads for girls in education, Vanuatu

During the past 12 months we have been working towards setting up the Mammas Laef Charitable Trust. That means, it's time to move the Give A Little page across to a formal charity page - which will be activated in the next week or so (beginning of March 2019).

There are a couple of changes for our wonderful supporters.

Firstly, those making donations of $5 or more will receive a receipt which can be used to claim a rebate from Inland Revenue - up to any limits which might apply.

Secondly, we are changing the focus of who receives the packs of reusable sanitary pads.

Sometimes the focus will be on an entire community and sometimes on one particular school, depending on which area of Vanuatu we are working in.

The accumulated funds from the new Give A Little page, will be used at various times to will provide packs of reusable pads for girls in school, or out of school and for women within a community.

Over the past 3 1/2 years, we've found the best approach in gifting packs, is to provide them to all women within the community. There are several benefits in doing so:

For girls in school - having your own pads, means one less barrier to accessing education.

For girls not in school - those girls may want to be in school, but for one reason or another they aren't (often there are not funds within the family for the school fees). Those girls will receive packs.

For mammas in the community - their menstrual needs may be unmet too. Having access to pads allows those mammas to fully participate in daily activities, as they wish. This also opens up the pathway for discussion about sik mun.

Through our various fundraising efforts and sales, we have so far supported 3,500 women in Vanuatu with Vanuatu-made, environmentally friendly menstrual pads.

Thanks for the financial support so far and the words of encouragement.