(CNN) It's something that girls and young women in western countries can't imagine: missing school, even dropping out, because of their periods. Freweini Mebrahtu has dedicated her life to keeping girls in school by designing a reusable menstrual pad and trying to end the cultural stigma around the issue -- and because of her work, she has been named the 2019 CNN Hero of the Year"I don't even know what to say," Mebrahtu said when receiving the award. "I am so humbled and grateful for CNN ... this is for all the girls and women everywhere. Online voters selected Mebrahtu as the 2019 CNN Hero of the Year award from among the Top 10 CNN Heroes finalistsMebrahtu -- who is from Ethiopia and studied chemical engineering in the US -- designed and patented a reusable menstrual pad in 2005. Nearly 800,000 girls and women have benefited from her work.

Source: CNN December 09, 2019 03:00 UTC