Ethiopia small business menstrual poverty Han’s Care reusable sanitary pads, Digi Mart USA News (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia): In a cramped workshop in the heart of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, about ten seamstresses sew reusable sanitary pads in a country where many women go without them because of their cost and the taboo surrounding menstruation.
The atmosphere is focused, and the clatter of sewing machines drowns out conversation among the employees of Han’s Care, which is working on a modest scale to address a major problem faced by women in Ethiopia.
In this conservative society, menstruation is considered a taboo and a source of shame, something that founder Hanan Ahmed experienced firsthand. Nearly 43% of the population of Africa’s second most populous country, which has more than 130 million inhabitants, lives below the poverty line, according to the World Bank, and sanitary pads, largely imported from China, are luxury products.
“I was one of those girls who had very heavy periods. So as soon as they started, they stained my clothes and the chair I sat on, and because of that I wouldn’t come to school for a week or two, making up excuses,” recalls Hanan, 41.
After a career as a fashion designer and flight attendant, she observed that “some situations of shame that happened 20 years ago still exist today.” She decided to leave everything behind and launch Han’s Care, which she founded in 2021.
In Ethiopia, only 28% of women say they have everything they need to manage their periods, according to a 2017 study published by Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) notes that a woman living below the poverty line must devote “43% of her monthly budget to buying just two packs of disposable sanitary pads.” This burden “forces young girls to miss school, deprives women of income and pushes many of them toward dangerous solutions,” the UN agency also points out.
In rural areas, for example, women “use pieces of mattress or dirty socks” during their periods, which often causes them infections, Hanan Ahmed emphasizes.
Han’s Care therefore designs washable, reusable cotton sanitary pads that can last up to two years, and it can produce up to 1,000 units per day.
These products are not sold in pharmacies. Instead, they are purchased by donors, including banks, which then distribute them across the country’s regions.
Tsege Woldu Abate, who has worked at the company for five years, recalls her first period at age 13: “I didn’t talk about it with my family […]. I was afraid to bring up the subject.” The 30-year-old seamstress, who comes from a rural region, says she is “proud” of her work because it is “very useful for girls.”
The situation remains “more or less the same” in the countryside, notes Hanan Ahmed, who tries to normalize conversation about periods, including through her company’s social media accounts.
“Within some tribes and religions, when a young girl has her period, she is excluded from the household,” laments the founder of Han’s Care, who would like more support from Ethiopian authorities.
However, she says progress on the issue is real in Addis Ababa.
At the Nigat Kokeb school in the capital, a distribution of sanitary pads is organized for about ten young students.
Thanks to awareness efforts and donations of sanitary pads, “no girl misses school,” says teacher Tigist Shewangizaw.
