Reusable sanitary pads
Status: 
Time needed:
Two weeks or more
Step:
1
In some villages on Nabuur, this topic has been discussed before, for example:
* http://www.nabuur.com/en/village/masaka/project/task/sanitary-pads-femal...
* http://www.nabuur.com/en/village/kabondo/project/task/research-funding-o...
On the internet, there are lots of internet sites about making reusable sanitary pad, such as:
* http://www.donatepads.org
* http://www.clothpads.org
I would like to ask people to join me in this task of providing a large number of women and girls in Kisozi with reusable sanitary pads.
Also, the idea of setting up a small business for women to make reusable sanitary pads themselves popped to mind when discussing this with one of the neighbours. We would like you give ideas and practical help concerning this.
Project: Supporting Orphans in Kisozi
Starting making the reusable sanitary pads:
Hi Esther,
You have sooo great ideas! Wow. I think it would be useful for others if you also could attach a file with the template you used to make the sanitary pads. And what kind of material are you using?
all the best,
Maria
Hi Esther
Yes I think thats a great idea too.
I couldn't get your links to work, so am trying to post them again.
http://www.nabuur.com/en/village/masaka/project/task/sanitary-pads-femal...
http://www.nabuur.com/en/village/kabondo/project/task/feminine-hygiene-p...
http://www.nabuur.com/en/village/kabondo/project/task/research-funding-o...
They were also talking about this in Jinja Central too, but not sure whether they have made any progress.
As you will see from the Masaka discussion, there is already at least one group in Uganda making them - Afri Pads http://www.afripads.com
I suggested to Christopher (Masaka LR) that he should contact them for information, but don't know if he has or not. If you do the same, they might be able to send a few samples (these won't be free, but are low cost) and also provide advice on how the people in Kisozi can make their own, availability of material, production costs etc.
Mary
Hi Maria,
Thank you :) I got the patterns from here: http://www.labyrinth.net.au/~obsidian/clothpads/DIYpads/baseinsert.html
At this moment I am trying to make winged pads. I read on a website it is useful to try and use materials as a base that can be wiped clean, such as plastic table cloths or shower curtains, so I am trying that out. Though it seems to me that if you use fleece or flanel, this might be more comfortable.
I have used this pattern for instance: http://www.labyrinth.net.au/~obsidian/clothpads/DIYpads/baseinsert.html
Thanks Mary, for giving the links that work. The Afripads site looks really interesting and I am going to contact them! I will keep you updated here.
Esther
This is the response I got from Afripads:
Dear Hope Alive Uganda,
Attn. Eddy Kiirya Mpoya & Esther Haaisma
Thank you very much for your interest in our
product.. We have looked at your
website and read about your project and want to say that we are very impressed
with your work. It seems that you
are truly making a difference for so many orphans and vulnerable people in your
area.
We appreciate your interest in both
obtaining 100 Afri-Pads Kits and also using our example to run a
micro-enterprise as an income-generating project in your village. But there are a
few things that we need
to explain about Afri-Pads before we go any further:
Firstly – although we do have a “Donate Now”
page on our website, we accept western donors to purchase pads and donate them
in Uganda on a very small scale.
Donations only comprise 5% of our business, with the rest coming from
direct sales to NGOs, CBOs and other organizations. Therefore, at this point in
time we cannot donate any pads
to your organization; however, we can
provide you with Afri-Pads Menstrual Kits at an extremely low cost of 5,000
UGX/package. The lifespan of our
product is one full year (12 menstrual cycles), therefore we are making them
available to you at 1/6th the price of
disposable pads (1 year supply).
Selling our products, as opposed to donating them, is a essential for us
in order to maintain a sustainable business operation. As such, if your
organization is interested in supplying Afri-Pads Menstrual Kits to your
beneficiaries, they are available for purchase at 5,000 UGX/package. We would be
thrilled to have your
business.
Secondly – as an incorporated business with
shareholders and more importantly, with a patented design, we cannot go ahead
and encourage other groups (albeit small-scale) to start manufacturing our
product. Furthermore, to be
sincere, small-scale reusable pad operations are simply are not
income-generating. Production
costs heavily outweigh the profits, as the target customers (rural schoolgirls)
are the least capable of paying for the pads. Our direct sales to schoolgirls often
incur a loss, which
require us to secure subsidies from abroad. Additionally, many of the high-quality
materials needed to
make our product must be imported from abroad, which is prohibitively expensive
on a small-scale.
In light of these obstacles, we hope you
understand that Afri-Pads is unable to donate pads to Hope Alive Uganda, nor
are we able to provide you with information about starting a pad-making
operation. However, Afri-Pads exists
as a business because we have worked hard to overcome these challenges, and we
would be thrilled to work in partnership with Hope Alive Uganda to bring the
tremendous benefits of reusable pads to the young women of Kisozi village.
If you are still interested in purchasing Afri-Pads
for your beneficiaries, we’re more than happy to supply you with our
product. We look forward to
hearing back from you and truly hope, for the benefit of the women and girls
you support, that your organization will find the funding to place an order of
Afri-Pads
Menstrual Kits.
If you have any other questions about our
business please do not hesitate to contact us.
We look forward to hearing back from you,
Warmest regards,
Pauls Grinvalds & Sophia Klumpp
One day groups in Uganda learn to share information, and things actually start to change there, or maybe I am dreaming....
Can certainly understand why they are not able to donate them, given that they are a business needing to make a profit. May still be a cheaper option than shipping in from abroad, even if you just get hold of a few kits to try out and see how the girls get on with them.
Guys in Kabondo intend to use materials that are availeble locally and seem to think its a viable small-scale business although I don't know what detailed planning they have done yet.
Mary
Totally agree with you Mary!
I think they have an interesting, cheap offer. I was thinking about purchasing a menstrual kit for 50 women or girls and I hope some other neighbours will be interested in helping out a few women too.
Esther
The cost sounds like it would be $2.42 USD per girl per year. That is extremely cheap. I'm not sure we could make them and send them any cheaper than that. Maybe we should find out how much shipping would be or could someone drive to Masaka to pick them up?
I agree with Mary, that maybe we should get a few of the kits and see how they work out for a few test girls. We can get their feedback before moving forward. I know the most common comment in Kabondo was that the girls wished they had additional liners. So, my suggestion would be to find 10 volunteer girls that could try out the Afripads and report back. They need to be girls that would be willing and comfortable sharing their experiences and thoughts on this. Maybe we should order them a few extra liner kits as well. Count me in. I will purchase the first 10 kits as well as some additional liner sets for them.
Hi everyone- I agree with you Mary that it's a shame this group don't want to share their product - or IP with Kisozi but I also agree with Jennifer that they are actually very cheap in comparison to producing them elsewhere.
I am willing to purchase a small number of the pads too- if this is the track we're going down. Testing them is definitely a good idea...is 10 enough or do we need more girls trying them out?
Carolyn
Hi Carolyn and Jennifer,
Yes, I figured that 5000 Ugandan shillings is about 1,60 euros or a little bit more than 2 dollars, which is extremely cheap! I like making them myself, but indeed I can't make and ship them cheaper than this myself and I would like to have some girls and women test them and it works both ways: we can help the women and girls in Kisozi and we can help Afripads. So, I am so thrilled we can have 70 girls and women test them with your help (I can purchase for 50 girls...). What I will do is, ask Eddy to find 70 girls and women test them and I will contact Afripads again and ask them if they can be delivered or if they need to picked up or... And I will ask about the additional liners too.
I will get back to you soon about this!
I am so happy with this :D :D
Esther
Sounds great :)
In Kabondo, they did an organised survey of the girls using the pads, asking them questions when they received them, then again six months later.
They had 68 girls and 2 women taking part from local schools, with teachers providing support. They provided training in how to use and care for the pads. From what I remember, they also talked to the whole school (both boys and girls) about menstruation, that it is a normal part of life etc, as this is something that was not normally talked about openly in their area.
The questionnaire and survey results are attached.
Mary
Mary,
Thank you so much!!!! I was thinking this morning about making a questionnaire and how we could have the women report back. And you have got the answer!! You're fantastic, thanks!
Esther
This sounds great. Kabondos questionnaire looks good. I think it is important to have a meeting with all those trying out the pads and to discuss how to use them properly as well as washing them, care,etc... After 6 months we can look at the women/girls exit surveys and determine if this style of pad will work best or if we need to make any changes or try something else.Who could hold the meeting and who will show the girls/women how to use these?
Take a look at the pdf file Mary attached below. Look at pages 18-21. I think this is crucial info we can learn from and make sure to address during training for Kisozi girls/women.
Jen
Hey Jen,
I had a look at the pages you mentioned and yes, I think these are important issues to point out when instructing the women!
Esther