New Hope for children organisation.

Female students especially those in rural areas face great challenges  of hygiene and sanitation. For girls who are menstruating, these problems compound the difficulties posed by the inability to afford sanitary towels/pads as well as cultural taboos around menstruation. As a result, many girls miss on average five days of school every month which is over a month in a year, meaning they fall behind in class and sometimes even drop out of school altogether. 

This another challenge to the already existing problems that lead to the high dropout rate of female students in  schools

Distribution of reusable sanitary pads radically proves to create a world where women and girls can step boldly into the promise of their future.

it will increase access to vulnerable rural adolescent girls with sanitary towels and comprehensive menstrual hygiene management knowledge and risk awareness of HIV&AIDS among in-school and out of school girls.

Besides many girls miss on average five days of school every month which is over a month in a year, here are other challenges related to the situation

• The expense of commercial sanitary pads
• Absenteeism, girls stay home rather than attending school when menstruating.
• Unhygienic ways to dry menstrual materials, this is where they use leaves, papers/rags from garbage
• Inadequate waste disposal facilities.
  
• Leakage from poor-quality protection materials
• The lack of resources for washing such as soap
• Limited education about the facts and challenges of menstruation
• Fear caused by cultural myths
• Embarrassment and low self esteem
• And the unsupportive attitudes of  men/males.

Because most of these girls are impoverished, they end up using tree leaves, papers and rags which are unhealthy during their monthly days

Because of the Challenges mentioned above, many perform poorly academically, many dropout of school, others get married at an early age after dropping out of school, get early pregnancies which strengthens the chain of poverty.

Disposable commercial pads currently on the market is estimated to be 120,000Ugx (33 usd) per girl every year. In rural areas where parents and girls are so poor,  ensuring a regular supply of disposable pads at an affordable cost is challenging.

Distribution of reusable sanitary pads to Rural school girls. 

These sanitary pads should be made from natural and chemical free materials and   are usable for about one  year. 

The project will have an impact on health status of girls through improvement in the health status and personal hygiene of the girls as a result of using the reusable pads. This will be realized in the sense that girls will no longer have to use unhygienic materials like old pieces of cloth/rugs, old newspapers and tree leaves that most of them currently use. Considering the fact that the first menstruation is often horrifying and traumatic to an adolescent girl because it usually occurs without her knowing, the knowledge and understanding of girls on menstrual hygiene and reproductive health issues will be enhanced further leading to improved health status, increased levels  of confidence and active involvement  of  girls  in  school.  They will be taught how to use these pads and every thing about managing adolescent stage.

The re-usable pads  are more environmentally friendly compared to commercially produced pads because they contain fewer chemicals such as polyacylate superabsorbent gels. Their use will ultimately lead to environmental conservation.

Female vulnerable and very poor students especially those in rural areas are the main target who will benefit from this

This will help solve the problem of disposable commercial pads  which are currently The cost estimated of the commercial pads on market is 120,000Ugx (33 usd) per girl every year. In rural areas where parents and girls are so poor, transport networks are often poor, ensuring a regular supply of disposable pads at an affordable cost is also challenging.

Ensuring the safe disposal of disposable pads still remains a major challenge as unsafe disposal carries with its attendant environmental and health risks. One packet of the re-usable pads that will be distributed through this project is sufficient to meet the sanitary needs of a girl for a years at a cost of    15,000 ugx. ( $4.2USD )

In this case, the major problem is lack and inability of access to menstrual sanitary materials in the rural poor school girls and the negative out comes of this problem are mentioned above; Providing reusable sanitary pads to these girls will solve almost all the issues related to the problem solved.

In brief, the out comes of the solution are:

• Equal participation in learning by girls and boys
• Improvement in the quality of academic performance of girls
• Weaken the chain of poverty related as a result of illiteracy
• Reduction of gender based violence
• Control over gender based violence