One in ten girls on the continent misses school during her period, according to the United Nations education agency. In Uganda, one of the biggest obstacles for girls attending schools is a lack of sanitary pads, often too expensive for families to afford. Uganda’s ministry of education estimates that girls who stay home while they are menstruating lose six weeks of school each year.
There is a stigma attached to menstruation and that girls are seen as “dirty” during their periods, which is the primary reason they stay home from school at the time. It is also often difficult for girls in rural areas to find sanitary pads; many rely on absorbent cloth, which can leak and stain school uniforms.
School absenteeism is a major risk factor to the education of girls in Uganda. Girls face emotional and psychological stress. Menstruation, a natural process for women and girls, is a big problem for girls in most parts of Uganda causing a huge risk to their health and disempowerment. To manage their menstrual flow, girls turn to anything like rags, tissue papers, pieces of old clothes, tree leaves, newspapers, cotton wool, corn husks, basically anything that can possibly do the job.
Due to the absence of menstrual products for poor girls in Uganda, a normal natural experience for females has been transformed into a nightmare or a curse as some may bluntly view it. Menstruation is a private subject and it is a taboo to discuss it openly due to social and cultural attitudes, hence the problems associated with it are swept under the carpet. Hygienic sanitary protection and reproductive health matters are considered a trivial issue for government attention.
The poverty cycle in Uganda can be broken when girls stay in school. Poor girls who cannot afford pads resort to unhygienic and unsafe solutions. Girls in rural areas of Uganda engage in transactional sex or are sexually exploited to get money for basic feminine supplies like pads hence the risk of HIV and STD’s. Alternatively, others miss school, sports, friends and relationships altogether to avoid embarrassment from bloodstained clothes/uniforms.
For a typical poor African family, when there is little money to barely cater for food and other basic needs, sanitary products are not a priority. Therefore, providing sanitary materials for girls would be a life-changer for numerous reasons including hygiene, health, education and empowerment.
When people are dying of war, hunger, diseases and terrorist attacks, pads are the last thing an aid organization or a government would think of.
On average, a girl misses 5 school days in a month; this means 20 learning days in a term. A year has 3 terms, this means losing 60 learning days per year. A girl in secondary school who studies for 4 years would lose 240 days cumulatively throughout their high school education. This is about 8 months of school absenteeism within a period of 4 years. This fact also increases the possibility of dropping out of school.
Let’s make this situation better for the girls in rural communities/schools in Uganda. The stories of the girls are sad and drive our passion to want to help. By supporting this project, you will empower us to provide the girls with sanitary pads, educating girls on matters of reproductive health and personal hygiene.
Your support is a stepping-stone to long-term solutions for girls in Uganda. The organization will offer shout-outs on social media, your names will appear in our list of donors, postcards, hand written letters and stories from the girls you have supported.
Be an Ambassador. Help us build our network of solution-seekers• Get the word out! Tell your friends and co-workers about the campaign. Share this campaign through Facebook, Email, Pinterest, SMS, and WhatsApp, whichever works for you.
Make your donation today:
$20 is enough to buy pads that will last a girl 12 Months
$100 can provide pads for 5 girls for 12 months
$200 can provide pads for 10 girls for 12 months
$400 can provide pads for 20 girls for 12 months
$600 can provide pads for 30 girls for 12 months
$1000 can provide pads for 50 girls for 12 months
Our goal is to support 200 girls with pads and underwear’s
Fundraising for $5000.00
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