Amy's Story

Loving Humanity

In 2014 Amy picked up a magazine while waiting for her doctor’s appointment. She stumbled across a photograph which would change her life and impact the lives of thousands of others.

She saw an image of Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus with 18,000 people queuing for bread. In the foreground was a woman and Amy imagined herself there with her children and wondered how on earth she would cope. The thoughts ranged from sheer terror at the size of the crowd, to how she would look after her children and finally to how women cope with their periods in conflict zones?

The thoughts ranged from sheer terror at the size of the crowd, to how she would look after her children and finally to how women cope with their periods in conflict zones?

This question has led Amy on a seven year journey through India, Kenya, Jordan, Sweden, Turkey, Switzerland and Holland, resolute in her determination to find a solution to this problem. In Jordan, Amy worked alongside UNHCR with the women in Zaatari refugee camp to understand the desperation of not only the monthly shortages for sanitary pads, but also the ever-present need for nappies for babies, children and adults affected by trauma, disability and age. In 2016 she opened her first factory in Zaatari refugee camp five miles south of the Syrian border. Working alongside UNHCR and the Norwegian Refugeee Council they employed thirty of the most vulnerable women in the camp.

This was just the beginning of an incredible journey. In 2015 after the BBC covered her work, she was then inundated with requests from people around the world to help set up micro-factories to help keep girls in education after starting their periods. The scale of the problem was too big to ignore with over 100 million girls dropping out of school in part due to the lack of a pad. She has since been interviewed on Woman’s Hour, invited to the Women of the Year lunch and been shortlisted as having one of the most inspiring stories by the listeners of World Service Outlook. In 2017 she was also nominated by UNHCR for the Sharja Award to honour her extraordinary service to the forcibly displaced.

She founded Loving Humanity as a UK registered charity in 2019 and now works globally with international agencies supported by government ministries to address the inequality that exists as a result of NOT educating millions of girls all over the world. Amy is passionate about correcting the imbalance of the masculine and feminine so that once addressed the world can finally heal.

Amy takes you on her journey of discovery, learning about worlds that she knew nothing about at the beginning and introduces you to the people who have helped her on her way and who have taught her so much. She talks about love, fear, courage, resilience and so much more as she continues to empower women all over the world.