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URGENT CALL FOR ZAMBIAN GOVERNMENT TO LEGISLATE REUSABLE MENSTRUAL SANITARY TOWELS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

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Taxing menstrual products is like taxing a school going girl for being a girl. Maboshe Memorial Centre – MMC has been lobbying from the Zambian Government since 2012 for menstrual hygiene management policy on the distribution of free sanitary towels to school going girls who can’t afford to buy pads in all public schools mostly in rural public schools not for them to stay at home instead of going to school due to lack of menstrual hygiene management facility tools in rural public schools. Since 2019, the Zambian parliament has unanimously adopted a motion for the free distribution of sanitary towels in rural schools, although the motion is not law, it means the government must provide funds for the distribution of sanitary pads in future budgets. The motion comes after Zambian parliament scrapped taxes on sanitary products in a bid to make them more affordable. Zambia’s government has decided to provide sanitary towels to girls enrolled in rural public schools, to encourage more st
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STREET GIRLS IN LUSAKA ZAMBIA APPEALING TO PRESIDENT HAKAINDE HICHILEMA TO SUPPLY THEM WITH FREE REUSABLE SANITARY PADS AND A PLACE TO SETTLE IN.

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With no income, no proper clothing and shelter, away from the other human basic needs which we all know, how do street girls in Lusaka deal with their monthly periods when they can hardly afford sanitary pads leave alone food? While some use dirty pieces of clothes, others have resorted to sleeping with men who in return buy them sanitary pads and painkillers during this time of the month. Vero Banda (Not her real name) from Lusaka’s Kanyama compound has known the streets since 2013 after she lacked school fees, dropped out of school and embraces the cold streets of the capital city. By that time, she was in Grade Nine (9) but unfortunately, her mother passed on leaving her at the mercy of the cruel world Vero told Patrick Maboshe in Lusaka along Cairo Road near the Main Postal Office that she cuts pieces of her handkerchief to prevent the outpouring menses. " I cut into pieces my old clothes and re-use in place of the sanitary pads” she revealed some of the street girls o
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DONATE SANITARY PADS FOR A WOMAN IN MATERNITY WARD IN A RURAL HEALTH CENATRE.

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With poverty as high as 80% in rural Zambia, women cannot afford sanitary pads which cost about K50 per packet of 10 pads. Taxing menstrual products is like taxing a woman for being a woman. Let make sanitary pads available in the maternity ward in the rural health care centres with no access to running water, women who have no way to clean themselves after giving birth are forced to cut away pieces of the mattresses to use as sanitary pads. This is an ongoing social media campaign with an appeal to raise 5000 pieces of sanitary pads to be donated to the District Health Management on behalf of a woman in need in the maternity ward who can’t afford to buy pads. Join me Patrick Maboshe in raising 5000 sanitary pads to help a woman in need in the maternity ward with a supply of sanitary pads and toiletries for rural health care centres in Kalabo, Senanga, Sikongo, Lukulu, Shangombo, Mitete, Sioma, Luampa, Nkeyema and Mulobezi districts of Western of Zambia. Everyone can participate i
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ZAMBIAN PRESIDENT HAKAINDE HICHILEMA SHOULD SIGN AN ACT TO EFFECT INTO A LAW ON GIVE GIRLS IN RURAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS FREE SANITARY PADS

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In many rural public schools, there are no supportive facilities like hygienic toilets and privacy where girls can help themselves during their menstrual periods. Imagine having toilets which have no doors where anyone could peek in at any moment, due to these challenges girls are forced to make a decision of skipping school, they prefer to stay home than to face the embarrassment in front of their peers, many of them are unable to speak out their problems because of the taboos, this taboo need to end with proper education, but first, free sanitary pads need to be provided, so that no one has to miss school because of their period. If we do not set up the systems in place that allow provision of free sanitary pads to girls in rural public schools, we risk increase in girls dropping out from schools. However if we do get this to happen, we will allow all girls to confidently attend school without having to worry about the embarrassment of their period letting them down. They will focu
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WEDNESDAY, 2ND OCTOBER, 2019 ZAMBIAN PARLIAMENT RECOGNIZED THE ROLE OF THE MABOSHE MEMORIAL CENTRE – MMC IN ADVOCTING TO LAW MAKERS TO MOVE A PRIVATE MEMBER’S MOTION WHICH IS URGING THE GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE FREE SANITARY TOWELS TO GIRLS IN RURAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

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“According to the Maboshe Memorial Centre – MMC report. The Zambian parliament has unanimously adopted a motion for the free distribution of sanitary pads in rural schools, although the motion is not law, it means the government must provide funds for the distribution of sanitary pads in the 2020 budget. The move comes after Maboshe Memorial Centre – MMC carried out a survey study on PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE MENSTRUAL HYGIENE MANAGEMENT (MHM) AND SANITATION FOR SCHOOL GOING GIRLS IN RURAL SCHOOLS in 2019 observed that most menstrual products are expensive and pupils in rural areas cannot afford to buy them. The survey study urged the Ministry of Finance to consider removing customs duty and value-added tax on menstrual products and questioned why poor female students are not entitled to free sanitary pads when condoms are distributed free of charge. The survey study also urged the Ministry of Finance to consider national budgets allocation for the distribution of more than 14,000 sanitary
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ARREST OF THE PERPETRATORS OF ELEVEN (11) YEAR OLD BOY WHOSE HAND WAS BURNT FOR STEALING A K2

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Maboshe Memorial Centre – MMC condemns this barbaric act and calls for the arrest of the perpetrators. Let the perpetrator face the full course of the law and serve as deterrent to the would be offenders. In as much as Maboshe Memorial Centre – MMC would never condone such deviant behavior by a child, we would also never encourage use of barbaric and abusive method of disciplining a child by any parent or guardian, which are in direct violation of children's rights and the laws that protects children in Zambia. Any such acts by anyone puts such a one in direct violation of the laws and as such that person will be deemed to have committed a misdemeanor. The constitution and other subsidiary laws protect everyone from any form of abuse including causing an injury and/or occasioning actual bodily harm on any person(s) which includes a child. Article 24 (2) of the amendment Act No. 18 of 1996 of the Constitution of Zambia, states that all young persons shall be protected against p
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DROP A SANITARY PAD SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN

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Dear Friends of the Maboshe Memorial Centre – MMC, Rural school going girls in the age of 10-19 years have resorted to use cow dung, which is made into a flat shape and hang it out on the sun to dry and others also use cow dung which is made into a powder after dried in the sun. They make several pieces of them so that they can be able to use them for about three (3) months. When they are on their period, they take the dried cow dung and place it on their inner wear and put some pieces of cloth on top of the dried dung. They said that the dung acts as a sponge and absorbs the blood when it passes through the cloth because they cannot afford to buy proper sanitary wear or pad. We have identified 10,000 girls who are using cow dung in 10 selected rural primary pupils and sensitize them on menstrual hygiene; We are glad to announce the start of our new donate a free reusable sanitary pads campaign on social media. We wish to raise 10,000 free reusable sanitary pads packs to support unde
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