An area nonprofit organization is creating awareness about menstrual hygiene for young girls in rural Uganda.

University of New Mexico medical students Emily Sarvis, Hyesun Choi and Rikki Hall are the founders of Sunny Smiles Initiative, which was founded in 2020.

“I just wanted to do something for woman’s health, especially in areas where we take a lot of things for granted,” Choi, a co-founder of Sunny Smiles Initiative, told KRQE.

As medical students, they wanted to make a difference after learning that many girls in Uganda use unsafe methods for their cycles. They founded their organization and now raise funds in the U.S. to provide sanitary products and outreach programs in Uganda.

“We bring everything so that when we bring it to the school,” Choi said. “We are reaching out to everyone at that school, so everyone at that school can leave with a reusable pad and then most importantly the skill and knowledge to make reusable pads.”

Sunny Smiles Initiative partnered with volunteers in Uganda who are using presentations and brochures to teach young ladies better hygiene.

According to its website, the group's mission is "to empower, create awareness about menstrual hygiene, and provide disposable and reusable resources, mostly to the rural and refugee camps in Uganda."

“I believe education is one of the best things that anyone can receive,” Sarvis said. “Being able to write these brochures and really help people be educated on just what’s going on with their own bodies, it’s just so amazing to be able to do that.”

In its three years, the organization has helped educate 2,000 people through its outreach. The best way to donate is to visit the organization’s website.

 “It’s not just for like the females who are menstruating but also the boys there and teaching them how to make pads and they could take that information home to their younger siblings or their sisters that aren’t going,” Hall told KRQE.