"Here's what I found: If girls don't have sanitary pads, they stay home. The rags they use don't inspire confidence. They are terrified of having an 'accident' at school, so they stay home.

"And they use rags rather than pads because a pack of pads cost 25 percent or more of a family's daily expenses. Pads compete with food or medicine. Across East Africa 4 in 5 women cannot access affordable pads."

The disposable sanitary pad industry relies on expensive softwood pine fibre to make the absorbent material in napkins but these products - which North American women buy without a thought - are out of reach for most girls in school

With pads and related health education, girls' absenteeism drops from 4.9 days on average to 1.2 days per month when provided with pads ... When a girl is able to stay in school and do her job, her family does their job. So it's not a silver bullet -- but its pretty close,"