Give Hope ..... Gift Hygiene !!!

ECONOMICAL & AFFORDABLE HOME-MADE REUSABLE SANITARY PADS FOR WOMEN / GIRLS

 

CAMPAIGN BY: Great Lakes Peace Center (Uganda) and Global Welfare Program (Endorse Hope (By Scientudio))

 

PROJECT BACKGROUND;

 

Article 25 of International declaration of Human rights states that everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family; including food, clothing, and housing and medical care and necessary social services motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. In Uganda, nearly 60% to 69% rural women use old cloths instead of using Washable Sanitary Pads leading to vaginal infection & diseases.

 

Low cost Feminine hygiene is a priority. Menstruation continues to be shrouded in misconceptions and perceived as a matter of extreme embarrassment. In rural parts of Kasese menstruation and menstrual practices are clouded by taboos and social restrictions for women as well the girls. The socio cultural norms in the society discourage discussion pertaining to puberty and menstruation within and outside the family thus leading to poor and unhygienic practices to manage Menstruation. Girls have little opportunity to take care of their health and other requirements. On account of the traditional patriarchy followed since time immemorial, often their contribution is not accounted and valued. Communication gap between girls and their parents, other family members is found.

 

 

The problems rises in proportion to the affordability to the choices of means adopted for menstrual hygiene management where washable sanitary pad is preferred by and large by the women and girls but due to low income and poverty they many times fail to afford it. This further inculcates sense of inferiority and declines their confidence in mobility attending schools, doing even daily household chores and participation.

 

Though in urban Uganda the trend has changed in recent years, but in working area alike rural Kasese, poor Accessibility and Social barrier is the root cause behind this. Sanitary Pads are only available in the medical stores or departmental stores generally situated in the largest villages or local markets. Without transportation, it is very difficult to reach the marketplace. On top of that, social issues prevent women and girls from obtaining Washable Sanitary Pads at local pharmacies due to social embarrassment about the topic.

 

Menstruation V/s Girl child Education

 

Most girls in rural settings and in particular girls in schools suffer most from stigma and lack of services and facilities to help them cope with the physical and psychological pains they undergo during their menstrual periods. Including the lack of materials for managing menstrual hygiene, no private space and wash rooms and inappropriate facilities for disposal of materials for those who have used pads. In spite of these issues, menstrual hygiene has been routinely ignored by professionals in the water, health and education sectors.

Over 80% of the school going girls still feel unsafe on their way to school and other have had poor academic performance given that most girls at menstrual ages do not have access to sanitary pads due to the high costs yet menstruation is part of the girl child and if not well catered for may ruin future of the girls child.

 

In turn these inefficiencies hinder the girl child education in Kasese district, for example, about half of the girl pupils miss 1-3 days of primary school per month. This translates into a loss of 8 to 24 school days per year. This means per term a girl pupil may miss up to 8 days of study. On average, there are 220 learning days in a year and missing 24 days a year translates into 11% of the time a girl pupil will miss learning due to menstrual period

 

Project Goal:

To contribute towards girl child school retention through improved menstrual hygiene and sanitation management

 

Objectives:

• Aware women & girls menstrual health hygiene

• Support washable sanitary pad kits

• To provide economic opportunities through sewing the washable sanitary pad kits

• To motivate local government to put menstrual health hygiene in priority

 

One Sanitary Pad kit Includes : Washable Sanitary Pad Kit includes one Jean cotton bag , 2 shields , 8 liners , 2 underwear , 2 small towels , 1 soap , 2 zip lock bags, 1 manual of menstrual health hygiene & how to use sanitary pad . Altogether, 500 washable sanitary pad kits will be supported to schools and women group. This pad is eco-friendly and last for at least 6 months.

 

Target Beneficiaries:

This project directly support the 500 women & girls through support of direct distribution of washable sanitary pad kits and economic opportunities.

 

Statement of Need:

Women’s health and hygiene has been one of the key concerns over the years across the world. The awareness on menstrual hygiene and usage of Washable Sanitary Pads is virtually absent in rural areas. Poor menstrual hygiene can cause fungal infections, repeated infections, and vulnerable to infertility. Reproductive hygiene education and sexual education is not part of any education system in Uganda.

 

The adolescent girls get information regarding the menstruation from her mother and grandmother, who themselves had practiced the unhygienic behaviors for years and thus do not see any harm in the practices of using old cloths during menstruation. The families of the intervene communities are extremely poor and illiterate and daily wages work is the only source for majority of the families that also varies due to seasonality of the jobs in construction, agri- cultural labour works, and others. Some of the families also work at brick kilns. Few of them are marginal farmers in the villages but it’s not sufficient for food grain production for whole year.

 

Another important factor is that the rural women and girls generally do not maintain cleanliness during menstruation period. As a result they become the host of many infectious diseases. This is due to the lack of awareness among them and also due to the economic inability for adopting better precautions like- use of good washable sanitary pad during menstruation period. Usually different varieties of Washable Sanitary Pads are found available in the market. But the reason is that these napkins are not affordable for rural poor women and girls.