Our sanitary pads use banana stems as the absorption medium, and will absorb up to 12 times their weight in liquid! The pads are sanitized, disposable, and biodegradable.

Materials to make 1 month of pads

Distribution day! Lots of happy girls.

The word Tooke (pronounced TOW-key)

means banana in Swahili.

Our pads are disposable, preventing the spread of blood-borne diseases. This is a society where borrowing is common - if a girl has some reuseable pads and isn't currently having her period, her sister or friend who is may ask to borrow the pads, and the girl will feel compelled to let her; a big health risk!

We have a team of about 20 volunteers who work in shifts to produce 8-pad packets - that's about 20,800 pads produced every month!

Our volunteers are all Christians, and they counsel with the girls every month, explaining the physical changes and stressing chastity.

Making pads requires special purpose-built equipment