Making The World A Much Better Place: Simple Things

Life-changing Maxi-pads?
New York Times: Here's a no-nonsense approach to quickly improving the lot of Kenyan women and girls: Provide them with Maxi-pads. Thomas L. Friedman's Op-Ed suggests that access to sanitary napkins is much more than an issue of comfort or convenience. Naisiae Tobiko, a native to Kenya's Masai region, told Friedman that around puberty she started to notice some that some girls would miss a few consecutive days of class each month. Friedman writes, "When she finally asked, they confided that they did not come to school when they were menstruating -- because their parents could not afford sanitary napkins." Some tried to make due with "rags or soil or mud," says Tobiko. But, ultimately, many of her classmates dropped out of school because they had already missed too many days of school.


Source: Salon's Broadsheet, April 6, 2007

___________________________________________

Although I think the title of the article is too flippant, this illustrates how those of us who are bleeding hearts sometimes forget to consider how simple inexpensive things can make a world of difference, and can change the world.

Thanks to Salon for the article, since Friedman's column costs money to read at the Bu$h League Times.

TLC