Our Story

Christine Glidden founded Women To Be Inc. (WTB), to become one of the fundamental components of a comprehensive health effort to provide girls and women in the world the opportunity to stay in school, get an education, participate in day-to-day activities, make informed decisions about bearing children, and become economic drivers in their communities.

Each kit lasts 3 years. So far, Christine has distributed 10,000 kits and health classes. Three times to Nepal, and once each to Zambia and Mexico, and numerous times to the Navajo Nation. With the help of a small army of volunteers, this vision becomes reality.

Through her partnerships with international organizations and community leaders, Christine knows that the success of the project lies in relationships. Her worldwide network has taken her to new locations also in need of these products.

The Inspiration

In 2014, Christine was told by a friend who had survived 17 years in a Nepali refugee camp that she would resort to castaway rags and tree leaves to absorb her menstrual flow. She would sit in the corner on a rag each month and wait for her period to end. Such conditions can cause chronic, painful infections. In the camp, girls would place bags over their heads when entering public areas in order to hide their identities as they bled down their legs. Christine was immediately galvanized to take action. It was abhorrent to her to think of her friend living in this humiliation and pain. So, she came upon kits.  They contain 8 sanitary pads, 2 ‘wrappers’ with waterproof barriers, 2 pairs of underwear, a washcloth, and 2 ziplock bags for daily storage of used pads which are rinsed and dried overnight.