G.D is an Australian activist and writer, who has been quoted in Vogue UK, Harper’s Bazaar, Huffington Post, etc. In 2015 she spent some time working in rural Namibia and experienced the plight of Namibia's women, living in impoverished, developing communities. 

"I had mentally prepared myself for the malnutrition and the TB epidemic but I felt like such a fool when I visited the local store and found nappies and pads being sold individually. I couldn't really fathom that you might only have enough money to buy one pad during your period, and you'd have to strategise when to use that ration. The idea of experiencing something associated with so much shame and not having the tools to make it just a little easier on yourself, was heartbreaking. The girls were walking unfathomable distances to school, the women were working desperately to feed their families, where was the space to take care of themselves? We joke about chocolate, rom-coms, asprin, heat packs and Adele but those are the comforts we need, even after having all the pads, tampons and menstrual cups we could possibly want. I just had to try and make life a little easier for these women."

G.D established partnerships with contacts and friends across Africa and developed, The Cova Project, which supplies menstrual cups to women in developing communities. It has become G.D’s mission to eradicate period poverty in as many communities as possible and shine a light on the issue.

We need to work together to combat this issue. Whether it’s Liberia, Malawi, the UK or Australia, women living below the poverty line struggle to afford sanitary products and a lack of access to these items feels humiliating. It’s completely unacceptable that we’ve built a society that shames women for a natural function and prices the solution outside of their reach. At The Cova Project, we provide a sustainable solution for free and we do our best to make it available to as many people as possible.

G.D dedicates herself to The Cova Project while managing a chronic illness, which she’s suffered from for over 10 years. Due to this illness she was unable to graduate school, something that seemed unfathomable to her. In sub Saharan Africa girls admit to missing around a quarter of their school year because of a lack of sanitary items. In India, right now, 11.3 million girls are at risk of dropping out all together because of their period. G.D has personally experienced what it is to be held back by something outside of your control, specifically when it comes to something as important as education and she believes where simple solutions exist, it is our duty to implement them.

Read more about G.D’s story here