EngenderHealth

What can clean water make possible?

At a rural health post in Ethiopia, clean water is helping providers prevent infections, offer safer care, and expand access to reproductive healthcare close to home.

When clean water is within reach, safer care is within reach, too.

EngenderHealth Ethiopia

“It felt like freedom.”

That is how Rani described having a new option for managing her period.

For years, she relied on what was available, without the information or support she needed. Then she and her daughter learned about menstrual health and new choices, including the menstrual cup.

When people have access to clear information, respectful support, and options that work for their lives, everyday health can become something bigger: freedom, confidence, and choice.

🔗 Read more: https://loom.ly/XqU6WSs

This should never happen.

Yesmin was married at 12. Within a year, she was pregnant.

After a long and difficult labor, she lost her baby—and returned home with a condition she didn’t understand.

Yesmin had developed an obstetric fistula, a childbirth injury that can leave women leaking urine or f***s, often for years without treatment.

She went back to a health center, only to learn that care wasn’t available nearby. Without the money to travel, she waited.

For three years, she lived with the physical and social consequences—stigma, isolation, and the loss of her marriage—before she was finally able to access surgery.

Her story is not unique. It reflects what happens when girls are married too young, and when access to care comes too late.

Read more: https://loom.ly/nwY59EU

Today, on Menstrual Hygiene Day, it’s a reminder that menstrual health is a human right—and for many, access to care and information is still out of reach.

For most of her life, Rani managed her period the only way she knew how—with strips of old cloth.

In her village in Bihar, menstruation wasn’t something people talked about. Even when women experienced discomfort or infections, they often stayed silent.

That began to change when her daughter Pallavi became a peer educator.

Together, they learned about a different option: a menstrual cup.

At first, it felt unfamiliar. But with time, information, and support, Rani decided to try it.

“The first two days were uncomfortable,” she said. “Then it was freedom.”

She could work, travel, and move through her day without worry.

That’s what access to information and care can make possible.

🔗 Read more: https://loom.ly/BLBcKK8

For women like Yesmin—who developed a fistula after a prolonged labor and waited years for treatment—access to care can take far too long.

Obstetric fistula is preventable and treatable, but only if women can access timely, quality care.

Right now, your support can help expand access to life-changing treatment and strengthen the systems that make that care possible!

👉 Give now: https://loom.ly/oJ3G3QU