By Ottilie Von Henning via SWNS
Meet the eight-year-old boy helping fight period poverty – by making reusable pads for an international charity.
Elliott Lonigro first heard about The Pachamama Project through his mother, Alanna Lonigro, 47, who was already volunteering.
The charity, which aims to help combat period poverty by sending reusable pads to those in need, was founded by Ella Lambert, 24, in August 2020.
The organization provides support across 10 countries, including Lebanon, Malaysia, Uganda and refugees in the UK.
After growing a community of sewers in her area, Alanna reached out to Ella to see if they could put their passion for sewing towards something good.
Alanna came up with the idea of a 24 hour sew-a-thon, which took place on August 10 in Sheffield and saw Elliott’s introduction to the cause.
Elliott, from Sheffield, UK, said: “It was a really fun and challenging experience sewing all the pads.
“It took me about 25 minutes to make each one, so I didn’t make that many, but altogether we made 200 pads in the 24 hours.
“It’s important to me because I know some women in some countries don’t have them, or don’t have money to get them.
“It’s sad that they could be embarrassed or girls might not go to school because of their period.
“So making pads with my mom for the charity will help some of those women feel a bit happier.”
Elliott has continues to help his mom sew pads on occasion over the past month and has no plans to stop any time soon.
Elliott said: “I will carry on making the sanitary pads for the charity with my mom and help as many people as we can.
“I am going to take one of the pads I made to school for a show and tell on Friday, so my class and teacher know about it too.”
Alanna educated Elliott about menstruation before he got involved with the project, which Ella cites as a vital component to young boys being open to the topic.
Ella, CEO and founder of The Pachamama Project, said: “It is so important that we debunk any myths around periods, especially for young men and boys.
“I think having healthy, clear conversations at home have a real ripple effect on society.
“We currently have 2,500 volunteers who have so far supported 16,000 menstruators, but with more men on side those numbers could be even higher.
“The whole point of providing these products to people in Uganda or Lebanon is to restore some of there dignity and access to education or work.
“The more young boys who understand this over how ‘gross’ periods are, the better.”
