Fifty women in Zimbabwe are about to get something that lasts. Four pairs of reusable period underwear, a bag to dry them on the line without judgement, and a note from the woman here who paid for it.
Empowerment
Her whole month back
Community
One sponsor, one sister
Sustainability
Four years, nothing thrown away
Dignity
What any of us would want
Safety
Less chance of being shamed
What does $35 buy?
What's in a pack
For the next four years she won't carry this monthly burden. Four pairs, a privacy bag to dry them in, and a note from the woman who sponsored the pack.
Pairs of period underwear
Worn for eight to twelve hours at a time, and leak-proof enough that she can still leave the house. Four pairs is what it takes to wash and rotate through a full cycle.
Privacy drying bag
A dark mesh bag that hangs on the line and hides what's inside, so underwear dries in the sun instead of staying damp and hidden indoors.
Note from you
A few lines, woman to woman, translated before we go. Of everything in the pack, this is the part people hold onto.
Why not just take pads?
Disposables are the obvious answer.
They're also the wrong one.
Ask what stops a woman managing her period and the answer is rarely a shortage of pads. It's that there is nowhere to put them once they're used, and no money to buy more next month. The New Zealand charity that makes our underwear spent years documenting that before they designed anything.
Does it actually work?
It's been done before,
and then measured
This underwear has gone out to more than 25,000 women across ten countries. The part that matters is what happened next. Researchers went back months and years later to find out whether anyone was still using it.
Sources: Oxfam Global Humanitarian Team with Groupe URD, February 2025 (northern Gaza). Medair, May 2025 (Somalia). Castro, Czura, Formella and Khalid, May 2025 (Mali, Somaliland and the Central African Republic).
More than periods
What actually changes
Underwear sounds like a small thing. What it gives back is a week of every month.
Women can leave the home, go to work and be out in public. Girls go to school.
Less stress, and none of the constant checking that comes with worrying about leaking.
It breaks a cultural stigma, and it opens the door to bigger conversations.
Mothers who would rather put their money towards school fees than sanitary products no longer have to choose.
Less to buy each month, which makes it sustainable for the family's budget as well as for the environment.
Even in an emergency
In the Pacific, researchers found girls would avoid evacuation centres during a disaster rather than be there with their period. They stayed away from the one place meant to keep them safe. Period underwear was enough to change that.
Research in the Pacific regionThe product itself
Built for exactly these conditions
A multi-layer microfibre gusset holds about 17ml, roughly two pads' worth.
Permanently bonded antimicrobial fabric reduces the risk of infection. No PFAS.
Leaking is the fear women name first. Removing it is what gets her out the door.
Women and girls with disabilities have found these easier to manage on their own than disposable or reusable pads.
Plain black, discreet, nothing about it announces what it's for.
One pack and she's covered. Nothing to resupply, nothing to wait for.
The part they keep
Write her something
You don't know her and she doesn't know you. That's alright, write it anyway.
Keep it short and keep it warm. Every note is translated before we fly, printed on a card, and packed with the underwear.
- She may keep this note for a long time, so let her know she means something to someone.
- First names only, and nothing else that identifies you.
- One or two sentences is plenty. Longer notes get harder to translate well.
- Encouragement rather than sympathy.
- A verse works beautifully. Pair it with a line of your own so it reads as a person rather than a tract.
God is within her, she will not fall.
Psalm 46:5
Whatever this month asks of you, you are not carrying it on your own.
Miriama, Hamilton
I don't know your name yet, but I've been thinking about you all week. I hope this makes the days easier, and I hope you know someone a long way away is glad you exist.
Ana, Wellington
She is clothed with strength and dignity.
Proverbs 31:25
I've been praying that over you this week, from the other side of the world.
Jo, Auckland
Whatever this month brings, I hope it's a bit easier than the last one. There's a whole room of women here thinking about you.
Sarah, Christchurch
Sample notes · every note is translated before printing
How it works
Three steps, and then it's on a plane to Zimbabwe.
You sponsor a pack (or more)
$35 covers four pairs of period underwear and a privacy drying bag for one woman. Sponsor as many as you like, and each one goes to a different woman.
We pack and translate
Your note is translated, printed and packed with the underwear here in Auckland before we leave.
We hand it over in person
Our team and our local team in Zimbabwe give the packs out themselves, with written care instructions inside each one.
Better for her. Brighter for our planet.
One pack replaces roughly four years of disposables.
After October
Zimbabwe is where we start,
not where we stop
The need isn't unique to one country, and it isn't only overseas. There are women and girls going without here in New Zealand too. Fiji and Indonesia are already on the list, with others after that. Sponsoring a pack now funds the first of these rather than the only one.
God loves a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:7
Help a sister out
Sponsor a woman
One pack goes to one woman, with your note inside it. Takes about two minutes.
A pack every three months, so four women a year have what they need.
Every pack goes to a different woman, and you can write a different note for each or use the same one.
Payments run through The House Church Network. Every donation gets an IRD receipt, so New Zealand taxpayers can claim a third of it back.
No mystery
Where the money goes
We'd rather tell you than have you wonder. Your $35 buys the underwear and the privacy drying bag. Freight and printing are covered separately by the team.
Because it's a donation rather than a purchase, New Zealand taxpayers can claim the 33.33% rebate from IRD, which brings the real cost of a pack down to about $23.
Nobody is paid from this. We cover our own travel costs.
What if you don't reach 50?
We take what's been sponsored. The order is placed on our own guarantee before the campaign closes, so nothing is waiting on the last pack selling.
What if more than 50 are sponsored?
Nothing goes to waste. Fifty packs go to Zimbabwe with the team in October, and anything beyond that we arrange shipping for, to women in Fiji and Indonesia. Your note travels with your pack either way.
Can I sponsor more than one?
Yes, and most people do. Each pack goes to a different woman, and you can write a different note for each or use the same one for all of them. Five is a common number between friends, and ten works well for a team or a small business.
Can I sponsor without writing a note?
Yes. Leave the note field blank and we'll pack it with a card from the team instead.
Who actually hands these out?
Our team, alongside our local team in Zimbabwe. Every pack is given to a woman in person rather than dropped off somewhere.
Why not help women here in New Zealand?
We will, and New Zealand is on the list. Free period products are already available in most state and state-integrated schools through the Ministry of Education's Ikura programme, which is funded through to June 2028. So the gap here sits with adults, women who have left school, and anyone who can't get to where the free products are.
Would a New Zealand pack be the same?
Same four pairs, same privacy drying bag, same note from you. We would hand them over through local partners here rather than carry them on a plane, so there is no freight or customs to cover.
Why underwear rather than pads?
Pads cost money every month and there's nowhere to dispose of them once used. A pack lasts up to four years and leaves no waste behind.
Do I get a tax receipt?
Yes. The House Church Network is an IRD-approved donee organisation, so your donation qualifies for the 33.33% tax credit. Your receipt arrives by email, and you claim it through myIR after the tax year ends on 31 March. The rebate is only available to New Zealand taxpayers, though anyone anywhere is welcome to sponsor a pack.
So what does a pack really cost me?
$35 up front, and about $23 once IRD pays the rebate back to you, if you're a New Zealand taxpayer. Across the four years the pack lasts, that's under $6 a year.
Help a Sister Out · The House Church Network · Zimbabwe, October 2026
Sponsor a pack