Northeastern graduate Ceylan Rowe is on a mission to ensure that women and girls in disaster zones have access to safe, hygienic menstrual products. Since Rowe launched the Fihri Foundation last year, she says, the organization has shipped more than 250,000 pads, tampons and other menstrual products to 17 countries, including to survivors of floods in Bangladesh, earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, and hurricanes in the United States.
Rowe, who graduated from Northeastern in 2003, says the nonprofit fills a gap in disaster relief. “There are a lot of great organizations that focus on food and shelter, rightfully so, but our focus is on period products. We’re trying to fill that void,” she says. The need for menstrual products does not end because of a natural disaster, Rowe says. “In the worst moments of these women’s lives, we just want to provide hope. This is very much a question of comfort and dignity.”
