“Does someone want to tell me how they feel when they have their period? Or how long their period lasts?” says Rebeka Kabugho, ACODEV Project Officer, to a classroom full of adolescent girls in an effort to break the ice about menstruation. At first the girls look around the room giggling, shy to share their personal tales. But being the motherly figure that she is, Mrs. Kabugho manages to create a safe space for discussion about the sensitive topic.
After several months in the making, this scene took place on June 9th in three areas of Kasese District, Uganda. In late 2013, I was fortunate to meet an inspiring social enterprise based in Kampala, Uganda called AFRIpads. AFRIpads’ aim is to empower girls by locally manufacturing washable, cloth sanitary napkins that are designed to be comfortable, hygienic and environmentally-friendly. During our discussions, I learned that Ugandan girls often miss approximately 1 to 3 days of school each month during their period because they don’t have the resources to purchase traditional menstrual products. Fearing shame, embarrassment of leaks or uncomfortable alternatives, these girls can miss up to 20 percent of their school year!
Working with ACODEV’s Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC) project staff, we identified a need for AFRIpads among our adolescent girls enrolled in this project. Knowing that just 1,000 USD would allow us to reach 100 vulnerable girls, I designed and launched a one-month Indiegogo campaign to raise the necessary funds. In 24 hours, we raised $650; after two days our total was $920; in 10 days we had $2,020. By the time the campaign ended we raised $3,160! All of us at ACODEV were blown away by the generous support and words of encouragement we received throughout our campaign.
We devoted the first $1,000 we raised to the project we had originally envisioned which included purchasing 100 kits (each lasting one year), and successfully distributing them to our OVC girls. With the remaining funds, we’ve placed an order for 300 more kits! ACODEV will continue to distribute them over the next few months each time we interface with a group of adolescent girls through our various program areas, such as Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health. After monitoring the success of these kits in our communities, ACODEV aims to continue our partnership with AFRIpads to empower girls throughout Uganda.
To learn more about menstrual hygiene, check out these blogs:
- Menstruation Matters: Let’s Talk. Period.
- Menstrual Hygiene Management: A Path to Human Dignity
- Periods Matter
