MORE than 100 impoverished Nepalese women are leading more dignified lives thanks Barnard Castle Rotary Club members and volunteers who have been making hygiene packs for them.

Impoverished women living in Himalayan villages cannot afford sanitary protection and are commonly locked in cattle sheds while menstruating, a practice which has led to rapes and one or two deaths each year due to families forgetting to feed them.

On hearing of this sad situations , club members, assisted by volunteers, set about making hygiene packs from simple materials and arranged their transportation to Nepal by fellow Rotarians.

Club member Anne Pickering has met Major Lil of the Himalayan Gurkha Rotary Club and heard from him how girls were now able to attend school the year round instead of missing four or five days each month.

While it is hoped that Rotary funding will eventually enable the girls and women to make their own products from donated resources, the need for packs from the UK continues.

The club is very grateful to people who have donated materials, money or sewing skills to this project and would be delighted to hear from others willing to help in any way.

Materials used include cotton/ poly cotton or winceyette, shower curtains and press studs.

For cultural reasons, images of people, animals or insects cannot be used.

For more information call 01833-650489 or email anneatwetwang@aol.com