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That was my point... Cotton. Wool. i.e. Fabric. These poor women don't even have that.

It's a hideous topic. I am not one of those "oooh, let it flow with the moon" types of women, and am loath to even discuss it, yet I am appalled. I cannot imagine some poor woman, in the 21st century having to a) have to publicly fight for the problem because b) the going sanitary choice is rolled-up newspaper. Dear God.

I agree that this is serious -- one of the many deprivations that Zimbabweans are suffering under. However, there are probably better alternatives. Please read my post # 38. I personally knew several aboriginals who have used sphagnum (peat) moss for diaper liners. They preferred this traditional material to early disposable diapers for several reasons: it prevented diaper rash, it was free, it is very absorbent (today's gel liners are probably more absorbent -- which just means you have to use more moss than gel), it is completely biodegradable, and it was how they and their ancestors did things. I never asked them about use in sanitary napkins (the native women would never have discussed such topics with a man) -- but it was used for that purpose.

After my posting, I did a bit of a Google search and discovered that Johnson & Johnson actually used sphagnum moss in a line of sanitary napkins for a while in the early 1990s.

The watchword for third-world assistance is "appropriate technologies". The point I was trying to make is that it would be far more helpful for the celebrity do-gooders to help develop these appropriate technologies, rather than creating a dependency on a technology that Zimbabwean women cannot afford. There must be some suitable local material, which would provide sanitary protection. E.g., dried seaweed can be used for bandages in survival situations, where there is no peat moss available. http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/wilderness/survival/first.htm#bleeding