Why Reusable Pads
Kasese, Uganda, had the highest rates of teenage pregnancy and child marriage in rural Uganda. According to media reports on NBS Television Uganda, girls in Kasese District were having sex in exchange for getting sanitary pads to use during their monthly periods. This has been a recurring problem for girls in schools in Kasese for decades due to the high poverty levels. A non-scholarship school campaign to avert this that’s affordable, scalable, and with direct measurable results is buying reusable sanitary pads for school sick bays for girls to use, especially those who cannot afford them. This intervention addresses the problem directly and sustainably. Many girls stay at home every month during their periods. Some, according to the above media report and several other Civil Society surveys in Uganda, end up exchanging sex for sanitary pads. This intervention is simple yet with great direct impact. It’s also relatively affordable given our fundraising goals.
Goal
Our goal is to buy ten boxes of Afri-Pads and bars of soap for ten schools that we work with in Kasese, Uganda. The cost of one box of reusable sanitary Afri-Pads with 80 pieces is approximately $250 and one bar of soap is $3, inflation remaining constant. Each piece has four pads which a girl can use for a whole year (twelve months) because they are reusable and can be washed with soap/detergent and water after use. This is sustainable because a girl doesn’t have to buy pads every month.
Donate
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