DONATE SANITARY PADS MATERIALS, SOAP AND UNDERWEARS

SUMMARY Around the world, individuals face barriers to receiving a quality education because they lack access to affordable and hygienic menstrual products, adequate WASH facilities, and menstrual health education. Think about school going girls who are now locked up in homes, women in correctional facilities and health care facilities, women working in markets, who are also in need of vital information related to menstrual hygiene and access to sanitation facilities. In many places, shared toilets make it challenging for menstruating girls and women to manage menstrual hygiene. Working also closely with the village health teams to ensure distribution of sanitary pads for the vulnerable girls in schools, women in correctional facilities and health care facilities, this we cannot achieve alone without the help of you our donors. The Pad Project partners with individuals, business houses, local and grassroots organizations, to donate sanitary pads materials, soap and underwear's to implement reusable cloth pad-making programs and run menstrual hygiene management workshops in communities. We work with our partners to tailor each program to the specific menstrual health needs of each community. The Pad Project's mission is to create and cultivate local and global partnerships to end period stigma and to empower rural girls and women with sanitary pads. At the Maboshe Memorial Centre (MMC) we are sewing, selling some and donate some sanitary pads to poor girls in rural schools and women in correctional facilities and health care facilities in Western province, Zambia. The number of girls dropping out of school increase as they have reached puberty. Stigma around menstruation is one of the reasons for this. We give out reusable sanitary pads as well as educate the girls and women about menstrual health and practices. The objective of this project is to eliminate stigma, educate youth and keep girls in school.

CHALLENGE Menstruation and menstrual practices still face many social, cultural, and religious restrictions which are a big barrier in the path of menstrual hygiene management. In many parts of the country especially in rural areas girls are not prepared and aware about menstruation so they face many difficulties and challenges at home, schools, and work spaces. Girls and women have very less or no knowledge about reproductive tract infections caused due to ignorance of personal hygiene during menstruation time. In rural areas, women do not have access to sanitary products and if they do, they cannot afford to buy them. The challenge is that girls are dropping out of school due to lack of sanitary pads, as well as stigma around menstruation. In fact, research done by the Maboshe Memorial Centre (MMC) has shown that Western province, Zambia has one of the highest numbers of girls dropping out of school because of this. There is also a knowledge gap, and no teaching about menstruation at school. There are therefore lots of myths, stigma and taboos around menstruation and periods in Western province, Zambia.

SOLUTION At Maboshe Memorial Centre (MMC), we continue to commit ourselves to advocate for the rights of girls and women who are not able to access sanitary towels especially in these uncertain times of disaster. Teachers also will be educated and trained to impart knowledge about menstruation and menstrual hygiene management among students. Social and electronic media also play an important role to make the girls and women aware about the latest menstrual products, different manufacturers and government policies. Our campaign is running and we need to support as many girls as possible so that no single girl is left out. By doing outreach at schools, we will perform educational sessions to improve menstruation knowledge, and we will distribute reusable sanitary pads to girls. The reusable sanitary pads are easy to make, and we will also during the session explain how to fabricate them, how to clean them, and how to maintain them. 500 girls will receive sanitary pads during the school visits.

LONG-TERM IMPACT It is our humble request to you our dear donors to continue supporting us on this cause so that we break this barrier, and girls can be able to attend school with dignity. By doing outreaches at schools, correctional facilities and health care facilities we hope to make an impact by changing attitudes. The school pupils, correctional facilities and health care facilities will get new knowledge and spread the information to their families and friends. Teachers will learn to effectively integrate menstruation education in their youth work. Girls learn how to make their own sanitary pads, and can fabricate and sell their own. The long-term impact is that more girls will stay in school.