About Period Tide

Sabrina has always been passionate about period poverty.  This passion started when she first got her period and learned that if she was born elsewhere, she might have to stop attending school, stop playing sports, stop doing other things she loves. She was infuriated! Especially growing up with two brothers, she was set out to prove that whatever her brothers do, she can do, even with her period.

In her mind it's simple, in order for the world to be a better place, you need to empower the population that generally isn’t – which is women. To do that, you need to make sure that girls are able to get the same education as boys (meaning stay in school when they get their periods), so they can graduate, earn a living, gain promotions, become leaders within their communities, have seats at the table and share their voices, be part of decision making processes, affect rules and laws, etc.

Sabrina can't change the world, but she can impact the communities which she is part of.
She's held several successful events (400+ participants) at her company and also wants to focus on where she lives, Belgium.

This topic impacts every country in the world, not just the developing counties, but the EU as well. 

Sabrina partnered with Marie who brings years of experience in gender empowerment, non-profit experience, and the same passion to drive change for her community :)

Menstrual poverty became an area of interest for Marie while she was involved in a development project in Kenya. Because she saw how hard it was for rural communities to get menstrual products, and that few families could afford to travel to town for them, she chose to add menstrual hygiene education training to the project. What surprised her even more was the reality that girls were missing 3 to 4 days of school each month, sometimes up to 5 days, resulting in the loss of approximately 30 to 40 days of learning opportunities annually. Data from that location showed that as many as 65% of girls couldn’t afford sanitary pads. This was compounded by a lack of water and privacy, and the stigma (social prejudice).

The reason Marie hadn't considered this an issue before was because, in addition to her privilege, she personally experienced little pain or stress from her period. However, now that Marie has given birth and has a lovely child, her hormonal balance has become disrupted postpartum, causing her to suffer severely from PMS (Premenstrual Syndrome) and PME (Premenstrual Exacerbation). She wanted to work with Sabrina to help girls and women facing similar 　struggles. She knew this conceptually, but when she actually experienced it, there were days when she couldn't focus on work or household chores. She began wishing there was a community where she could share this kind of situation.

Period Tide is here to bring awareness, break the stigma and taboo that causes this problem to be hidden, and promote sustainable (financially and environmentally) periods products. Let's empower every tide!