Project Dignity

Environmental sustainability and keeping marginalized girls in school. Disposable sanitary pads and diapers are dangerous to human health and environment. When combined, plastics, glasses and disposable sanitary products they are 100% contributing to environmental degradation. It is estimated that during her life time a woman would dispose about 16,800 pads and so are the diapers being disposed every day. About 65% of women and girls in Malawi cannot afford sanitary pads. Evidence suggests that the period around puberty is one in which many girls drop out of school or are absent from school. This means that over 2 million girls miss 90 days of a school year and women miss valuable work hour. By choosing to use natural menstrual products like our organic Bamboo Eco- friendly reusable washables napkins, you are doing your part to help the environment and at the same time keep marginalised girls in school. 

The most important global challenge facing Malawi today is breaking the grip of poverty. The social situation is characterized by growing number of HIV/AIDS orphans, unemployment among the youth, child labour, abuse and violence, human trafficking, maternal deaths 
and environmental degradation
About 65% of women and girls in Malawi cannot afford sanitary pads. Evidence suggests that the period around puberty is one in which many girls drop out of school or are absent from school for significant periods of time. Menstruation causes Malawian adolescent girls to lose an average of 7days of learning days per month. Limited access to safe, affordable, convenient and culturally appropriate methods for dealing with menstruation discomforts has far reaching implications for rights and physical, social and mental well-being of many adolescent girls in Malawi and other developing countries as well. It undermines their well-being and has been shown to restrict access to education.

Addressing menstrual mismanagement removes a large barrier to accessing the fundamental right of education and should be considered a priority in the development of education policy. The benefits of girls being kept in school are many‐fold and are not limited to prevention of early pregnancy, increased capacity for self‐determination and increased employability.

Dignity Project advocates for bamboo reusable washable sanitary towels to keep girls in school and contribute to environmental sustainability by switching girls, women and babies from disposable to reusable sanitary napkins hence fighting climate change. The eco-friendly organic bamboo reusable sanitary pads are freely distributed to identified marginalized girls and same are provided to women living in dire poverty so they don’t miss on hours of work. The provision of the innovation hugely motivates girls to stay in school, this helps combat child and early marriages, gender based violence among other challenges.

Process&Technology: The pulp is extracted from the plant culms. Opening and loosening of the bamboo structure is one of the key factors leading to successful fiber extraction. The procedure involves a series of chemical processes including soaking, boiling, washing and softening. Mostly mild alkaline solutions like sodium carbonate is commonly used for this purpose since alkalis help break the pectin’s in the ribbons without attacking the cellulose in the fibers. Once the fibers are extracted they are taken through the sanitary pad making procedure. The fibers are weighed and pressed in a mold which is then sealed with a nonwoven fabric. The pad is then sterilized and parked

The innovation is a game changer because it’s scalable, replicable, cost effective and sustainable, at the same time if replicated at a large scale we will be protecting our environment and promoting gender equality. Dignity Project is a social enterprise of manufacturing and selling eco-friendly reusable sanitary pads. The business aims to provide an accessible, appropriate and affordable way for marginalized girls and women of all ages to manage their menstruation with dignity. The product is introduced to communities coupled with menstrual health education in an attempt to break the taboo and myths around menstruation and dispel the misinformation spread about this natural process and addressing climate change.

The project also supports women with sewing trainings and funding sewing machines to ensure scalability of the venture. The also project aims to improve the health status of girls and women in rural communities in Malawi by supporting the creation of a social business producing and selling bamboo reusable sanitary pads using locally available materials from local farmers. Business and health seminars have been conducted within the group’s women to give them knowledge on menstrual health and how to run a successful, sustainable business thus promoting economic empowerment.

The global numbers of marginalized girl child challenges are on the increase, in Malawi 2-million adolescent girls miss classes every month due to lack of sanitary pads. Today, out of the 132 million girls worldwide who are out of school including 52 million in Sub-Saharan Africa alone—16 million will never set foot in a classroom. And the shocking look at how the use of disposable sanitary pads, and diapers negatively affect our environment because they pollute the environment and do not biodegrade. Touched my heart to innovate an innovation that will both keep girls in school and fight environmental degradation