Families need more than food: Always donates 20,000 pads to Kind

This was the call Amco, the parent company of Always, made following a donation of 20,000 pads to the non-profit organisation Kids in Need of Direction (Kind) as part of a hamper donation drive to families financially affected by covid19.

Amco, the distribution and marketing company for Always products, has maintained a close relationship with Kind through Always’ end period poverty campaign, which distributes pads to schoolgirls. Reshma Geawan, Amco business unit head for Proctor & Gamble, said the organisation was pleased to be part of the Kind initiative.​

“Our goal is to support families in need, especially during this difficult time by helping people take care of their personal health and hygiene,” she said.  ​

Kind will be distributing hampers directly from its Laventille headquarters to East Port of Spain, Beetham, Laventille, Morvant, San Juan and Cunupia.  Kind is also co-ordinating with other civil society organisations to help distribute hampers to other communities across the country.​

These include Servol Junior Life Centre for Cascade, Belmont and St Ann’s; Blanchisseuse Community Centre for Blanchisseuse and La Fillette; St Vincent De Paul for Paramin, Cameron, Maracas and Maraval; the Queen’s Park Cricket Club for Carenage, Cocorite, Bagatelle and Diego Martin; and Hillside Community Centre for St Joseph, Curepe and St Augustine.​

The NGO is also distributing hampers to the Shelter for Battered Women and Children and the Credo Foundation. Amco is encouraging people to continue supporting the Always end period poverty campaign, which triggers a donation for every pack of Always pads purchased.​

Dr Angelique Nixon, lecturer at the Institute of Gender and Development Studies (IGDS) at  UWI St Augustine told Newsday that feminine hygiene products are often overlooked when people are making their purchases for donations.​

“Period products are expensive, especially if you are struggling during this crisis and for those who have lost income.” ​

Feminine hygiene products such as pads, tampons and feminine wipes are necessities. However, they are overlooked for donations because discussions about periods are kept so secretive that few people think about donating them, Nixon said.​

“There is a lot of shame and stigma associated with periods and women’s bodies generally. As young people, we are told often not to talk about it. We must hide the pad or tampon as if it is something shameful. It’s so hidden away that perhaps we don’t think it’s a necessity, but a woman bleeds – a person with periods bleeds – once a month. Once a month for many years, yet sanitary products are not considered a necessity,” Nixon said.​

She has heard some people who say women who cannot afford pads or tampons should revert to the “old-time days” where women wrapped themselves up in cloth while menstruating. These were called blood cloths. Other people suggested using toilet paper in place of a pad, but those forms of thinking, she said, were sexist and inconsiderate to women.​

For a woman to wear a “blood cloth” she would have to be home all the time, but no woman should have to go through such an indignity in the 21st century. As well, to wear reusable pads, people with periods would need an adequate supply of water  to be safe and clean. ​

“That’s a lot of blood people with periods let out every month, and this is something we don’t want to talk about. Women don’t want to raise it as an issue when the family is struggling because of the shame and disgust people have towards periods.”​

She called on all the businesses such as grocery stores who are putting together donation packages to also add period products to their hampers. ​

“Let’s remember in our donations, private-sector companies especially who are putting together hampers, that families need hygiene products, feminine products, and baby items. Families need more than just food.”