South Africa period poverty: 'I don't want anyone else to use rags for sanitary pads' - BBC News

South African Tamara Magwashu grew up unable to afford pads or tampons - now she is changing that for others.

1 day agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, 0077 MultimediaImage caption, Tamara Magwashu wants to make sure that young women have access to sanitary padsBy Gem O'ReillyBBC NewsTamara Magwashu was bullied at school as her family was not rich enough to afford sanitary pads.

Now 27, she grew up in a poor township in South Africa's Eastern Cape province and watched her single mother use old rags during menstruation.

Tamara would take at least a week off school while she was on her period, and had to learn how to fold and use the rags, which were very uncomfortable.

That scarring experience has motivated her as an adult.

"I made a choice deep within me that I didn't want anyone else to go through what I did," she tells the BBC.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-65624739?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

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