2018 Impact Report
Saalt is almost one year old. It is hard to believe that we could be so young, yet have come so far. One of the best decisions we made in this first pivotal year was to put the company into your hands. Saalt was born out of collaboration. Before we launched, we gathered a focus group of over 1000 supporters online and asked you about everything from package design to wording on our instructions. We collaborated over small and big details, you gave us our hashtag #passthesaalt (thank you Sarah!), and the discussion was dynamic, thoughtful, and full of momentum. When it came time to build our charity program, we again put Saalt into your hands. We asked for your help to start pilot programs across the globe, and where we could take action. We wanted to find local teachers to introduce and teach about the cup. You connected us with a roll-call of dedicated charities who, this first year, have helped us begin circulating cups and cup know-how around the world. Since then, we have learned that the world is ready for the cup. The feedback is better than our fondest hopes. Women embrace the cup from first hearing about it, with enthusiasm at adopting a period solution that will lift both them and their sisters around the world. This year, we have seen that women across all cultures and demographics are of one mind, much more so than we ever could have dreamed. Women everywhere hold the same optimism and hope of improving each other’s lives in their local community as well as their global community. Our charity mission has made leaps and bounds this year, but as we have gathered more feedback, we have also uncovered new problems to solve, like how to keep consistent follow-up support in remote areas, or how to give girls in boarding schools the supplies they need to sanitize their cups. We are ready to work with you in 2019 to address these problems with long-term support and solutions.
Contents Our Mission 3 2018 Impact 4 Passing the Saalt 5 Distribution Partners 6 Why Pilot Programs? 7 Where We’re Working 8 Sudan 9 Nepal 13 Kenya 17 Guatemala 21 Uganda 23 United States 27 Saalt Supporters 33
We were once reminded, while sitting in the car in a mile-long line of other cars on a two-lane Idaho road, that we weren’t in traffic, we were traffic. This thought often plays back to us as we think of the friends of Saalt who have brought us this far. We are not in a movement, we are the movement. And the thousands of little ways you push this movement forward are stretching and reshaping the world we live in to be a brighter, more hope-filled place to be a woman. Dear friends of Saalt, you are the movement. We can’t wait for what 2019 has in store for all of us. Let’s do this. Let’s #passthesaalt. Amber & Cherie Saalt Founders
Cover photograph by @momo_boy Photography contributed by: Julie Gascon, Kate Phelps, iACT, @momo_boy, and Kendra Seiber, Tamika Garrison, @ranntex, DROTY
Our Mission
2018 Impact
2018 Impact 2,553
8,782
Saalt Cups donated
periods served
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$24,632
cup pilot programs started
saved on the cost of
in 10 different countries
disposables
144,895
1,800
period waste products
days of school funded
diverted from landfills
for girls in rural Nepal
Our Mission We believe women empowered to live their element can change the world. With our charity partners, we provide sustainable period care and menstrual health education to keep girls in school and enable women to pursue their dreams. We commit 2% of our revenue to donate period care and help fund initiatives in education, empowerment, and sustainability.
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Passing the Saalt
Distribution Partners
Passing the Saalt
Distribution Partners
We partner with charities across the world to distribute Saalt Cups and menstrual health education to areas with the most need.
USA
Nepal Venezuela Bangladesh
Guatemala Uganda Costa Rica
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Kenya
Sudan Tanzania
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Why Pilot Programs?
Where We’re Working
Where We’re Working Highlights Sudan | iACT Darfur Women’s Soccer Nepal | Her International Kenya | Outreach to the World Guatemala | Presbytery WNC
Why Pilot Programs? We know from helping thousands of new cup users that success
Uganda | Dreams of the Tropical Youth United States | Period.org
with the cup takes time, education, and ongoing support. Rather than giving one-off donations, Saalt takes a holistic approach in our cup distribution to address the needs of individual recipients and ensure the best chance of successful cup adoption as a longterm menstrual hygiene solution. We do this by working with our pilot programs to provide menstrual health education prior to cup use, and ongoing mentoring from trusted staff and peers as cup use begins. We then collect feedback to improve cup support within the program and local community. We also allocate funds to help address barriers to cup adoption, whether it be access to clean water, additional school latrines, or knowledge gaps in hygiene or reproductive health education. Once a strong support system is in place, pilot programs then have the opportunity to become ongoing Saalt charity partners. 7
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Sudan
Sudan
I
n Darfur, soccer is bringing hope to refugee women who work tirelessly to hold their communities together. In partnership with
iACT, a Los Angeles-based non-profit providing humanitarian aid through refugee-led solutions, Saalt provided menstrual cups to the players of the first-ever all female refugee national soccer team, Darfur United Women’s Team (DUWT). “Because of your support, the dream to form the first-ever Darfur United Women’s Team (DUWT) is now a reality....Darfuri women had been asking and hoping for their own opportunity to represent their people on the soccer field. Now, they have their team, along with official DUWT gear, including shirts, training jerseys, sports hijabs, socks, leggings, cleats, and feminine hygiene items. On behalf of the Darfur United Women’s Team players, THANK YOU.” —Darfur United 12
Nepal
Nepal
H
er International was founded in 2005 to save girls as young as six years old from lives of bonded labor by working with families
to curb the sale of their daughters into slavery, and instead, give them their first opportunity at an education. Her advocates that education is the common denominator towards alleviating poverty. In the rural town of Dang, Nepal, Saalt works with Her’s educational programs to fund scholarships for girls in need and provide Saalt Cups for students and their mothers working toward self-reliance through social enterprise. “I was curious when I heard at office about menstrual cup….At first it was difficult to me. I went to toilet and used it but suddenly it came out. Slowly, I learned to use it. Most of the time, I have to go to field. … I like [the cup] because…changing of pad at the field work was tough. I had trouble to dispose the pad. It is very easy with the cup. I can go toilet, clean it and use again. And, it saves the money. [Unlike the] pad, I don’t have to buy it again and again.” —Pressa
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Kenya
Kenya
T
his fall, co-founder Amber Fawson traveled with Outreach to the World to the village of Kiminini, Kenya to distribute Saalt Cups
and teach about menstrual hygiene. Through the effort of OWI, 76 orphaned children and teens are placed within family structures and provided with clothing, a mattress, schools supplies, health care, and supplemental nutrition to support them and their adopted families through high school and vocational programs. Amber met with the adopted mothers and, along with the local nurse, taught the group about menstrual cups. The reception was exuberant and the excitement was contagious. The women instantly saw how intuitive the cup was as a solution to manage their periods, were thrilled to release any worry about purchasing pads, and were equally enthusiastic that the cup diverts waste.
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Guatemala
I
n November, Saalt supporter Tamika Garrison volunteered to distribute Saalt Cups and teach about menstrual health to women in
the small village of Aldea Sintana, Guatemala. Fueled by the interest of fellow church sisters she introduced the cup to on a former visit, she pitched the idea of teaching about cups to her Presbytery’s charity partnership to help women remain healthy and active during their periods. Presbytery WNC works to facilitate female empowerment through micro lending and domestic violence education, as well as support needy children and youth through education and nutrition programs. “These women had NEVER had these conversations before. They
Guatemala
were not using tampons because they could not afford this type of care. They were completely unaware that the anatomy of a woman has two separate holes for urinating and bleeding. They cried when we were finished because they were so happy to be able to be open about these subjects and know that this will save them money and effort during their period. From the bottom of my heart and the hearts of 30 Guatemalan women, THANK YOU!!!.” —Tamika Garrison
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Uganda
D
reams of the Tropical Youth Uganda (DROTY) is a youth-led nonprofit organization that works with vulnerable and disadvantaged
youth in rural communities. They work to bridge the knowledge gap on personal health and HIV/AIDS through awareness and prevention, promoting youth livelihoods and environmental conservation. This summer, Saalt donated menstrual cups to present to school girls as an alternative to hard-to-find sanitary pads. The goal, as team leader Timothy Arnold described, was to improve menstrual hygiene among these adolescent students and encourage the girls to stay in school throughout their cycle “so as to attain their education prospects and consequently their future goals.” “My menstrual cup has been very beneficial to me because I can easily wash and reuse it. I had a challenge accessing sanitary pads but now I do not have to fear when my periods come. Because menstruation is an issue taken with a lot of stigma, I could never ask for sanitary pads from my father and often times I would miss school or improvise with pieces of rags. Thank you DROTY!” —Annet
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United States
United States
L
eading our U.S. donation efforts, Period.org distributes cups to domestic organizations like the Hopscotch Health Foundation,
which tackles youth diabetes through nutrition and fitness initiatives. This summer, Saalt Cups were distributed to Native American communities at the Blackfeet Reservation in northwest Montana along with education in menstrual hygiene management (MHM). We’re fueled by the movement Period.org has created to raise awareness about period poverty while simultaneously eliminating taboos and drawing passionate advocacy among the rising generation. Their large-scale packing events have an incredible synergy that not only elevate periods to a new level of cool, but inspire supporters to continue doing good within the community.
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Back to School for Her Too 30 Days, 30 Saalt Supporters Raise Awareness about Period Poverty
This September, Saalt supporters across the U.S. joined our Saalt Back to School campaign to raise awareness about period poverty. From kickboxers, to macrame artists, to chefs, women from different backgrounds came together in the name of something they all have in common—a period—and the belief that everyone with one should have access to quality period care.
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Saalt Supporters
Thank you.
www.saaltco.com/impact @saaltco #passthesaalt