Red Tent Project:

Hello crafters!
I have just been alerted by my friend over at Solohandmade about a wonderful work in progress to provide much needed supplies to women in Ethiopia. Find details below and let me know if you are interested in helping out. I am putting this out because I don't think it is ANYTHING to be ashamed about but something natural and worthy of attention and HELP.

Written by a mom who also adopted from Ethiopia:

Our agency felt burdened by the young girls’ overwhelming need for sanitary pads in Ethiopia. I don’t think I need to explain what a HUGE problem this is. Many girls are considered “unclean” for a week each month and are unable to go to school or work. Here are some facts:

Ordinary woman are unable to afford basic sanitary protection.
One pack of sanitary pads costs more than 50% of the average monthly wage for women.

Millions of African women are forced to replace tampons/pads with newspapers and dirty rags.

This can lead to infections for which there may not be available medication. These infections are often mistaken to be STDs leading to social embarrassment and in some cases, domestic violence.

Wives and mothers are unable to work when they have their periods, further hindering already impoverished families.

Girls are forced to take time off school, further jeopardizing their education.

Because of the economic and cultural crises in Ethiopia, its schools serve as more than academic centers. They provide community resources where young people receive basic care and services, such as food programs, clean water and counseling.


We are currently working on a project to provide the girls at our agency’s transition home with reusable menstrual pads. We are starting with the older girls first. There are about 30 girls who need the pads and we’d like to send 3 of the outer envelopes and 6 of the inner pads to each girl – so we’ll need 90 envelopes and almost 200 pads!

Here is where I need your help…I don’t know a thing about sewing, but I am very passionate about this cause. I am calling all my friends (adoption-related or not) to consider helping these young women have a safe way to protect themselves each month.

If you are interested, I will send you the pattern and a photo of the pads. I have been told that they are fairly simple to make.