stdClass Object ( [nid] => 170322 [vid] => 170557 [type] => task_discussion [status] => 1 [created] => 1227522619 [changed] => 1227522620 [comment] => 2 [promote] => 1 [sticky] => 0 [revision_timestamp] => 1227522620 [title] => Re: Sanitary pads for female students [body] => Hi Christopher Hope the visit and tank construction went well. Was your friend able to provide any more information/assistance with the sanitary pads? Mary [teaser] => Hi Christopher Hope the visit and tank construction went well. Was your friend able to provide any more information/assistance with the sanitary pads? Mary [log] => [format] => 1 [uid] => 2698 [name] => MaryS [picture] => [data] => a:8:{s:8:"og_email";s:1:"1";s:16:"privatemsg_allow";i:1;s:28:"privatemsg_setmessage_notify";i:1;s:17:"messaging_default";s:4:"mail";s:7:"contact";i:0;s:16:"nodecomment_sort";s:1:"2";s:29:"taxonomy_image_disable_images";i:0;s:8:"options1";s:1:"3";} [path] => village/masaka/project/task/discussion/re-sanitary-pads-female-students-2 [field_embedded_video] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [embed] => [value] => [provider] => [data] => Array ( ) ) ) [field_external_link] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [url] => [title] => [attributes] => N; ) [1] => Array ( [url] => [title] => [attributes] => N; ) [2] => Array ( [url] => [title] => [attributes] => N; ) ) [comment_type] => task_discussion [og_groups] => Array ( [0] => 82954 ) [og_groups_both] => Array ( [82954] => Masaka ) [og_public] => 1 [tags] => [nodewords] => Array ( ) [trid] => 0 [language] => en [i18n_status] => 0 [taxonomy] => Array ( ) [translation] => Array ( ) [cid] => 170322 [pid] => 168470 [hostname] => 86.145.218.38 [thread] => 01.00.00.00/ [mail] => [homepage] => [comment_target_nid] => 167682 [depth] => 3 )

stdClass Object ( [nid] => 235050 [vid] => 236228 [type] => task_discussion [status] => 1 [created] => 1251577485 [changed] => 1251577485 [comment] => 0 [promote] => 1 [sticky] => 0 [revision_timestamp] => 1251577485 [title] => Re: Afri Pads - reusable pads being made in Masaka district [body] => Hi Christopher Did you get in touch with AfriPads? I also posted about them to Kisozi village and Esther (facilitator) contacted them and got the following reply (which I should have posted here at the time - sorry!) http://www.nabuur.com/en/village/kisozi/project/task/reusable-sanitary-pads?#comment-224339 [quote]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[/quote] So they should be able to supply to Notre Dame too. As you are in the area, I don't know whether they will charge you the same, or whether you will be able to get them for less, as their site did suggest they are working with schools in Masaka. Its frustrating that they are not willing to provide advice to others wanting to set up similar businesses. Although they rely on imported materials, the guys in Kabondo are hoping to make them with local materials which seems to me to be a better option. Mary [teaser] => Hi Christopher Did you get in touch with AfriPads? I also posted about them to Kisozi village and Esther (facilitator) contacted them and got the following reply (which I should have posted here at the time - sorry!) http://www.nabuur.com/en/village/kisozi/project/task/reusable-sanitary-pads?#comment-224339 [quote]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 [log] => [format] => 1 [uid] => 2698 [name] => MaryS [picture] => [data] => a:8:{s:8:"og_email";s:1:"1";s:16:"privatemsg_allow";i:1;s:28:"privatemsg_setmessage_notify";i:1;s:17:"messaging_default";s:4:"mail";s:7:"contact";i:0;s:16:"nodecomment_sort";s:1:"2";s:29:"taxonomy_image_disable_images";i:0;s:8:"options1";s:1:"3";} [path] => village/masaka/project/task/discussion/re-afri-pads-reusable-pads-being-made-masaka-district-0 [field_embedded_video] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [embed] => [value] => [provider] => [data] => Array ( ) ) ) [field_external_link] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [url] => [title] => [attributes] => N; ) [1] => Array ( [url] => [title] => [attributes] => N; ) ) [comment_type] => task_discussion [og_groups] => Array ( [0] => 82954 ) [og_groups_both] => Array ( [82954] => Masaka ) [og_public] => 1 [tags] => [nodewords] => Array ( ) [trid] => 0 [language] => en [i18n_status] => 0 [taxonomy] => Array ( ) [translation] => Array ( ) [cid] => 235050 [pid] => 217677 [hostname] => 86.128.56.210 [thread] => 04.00.00.00/ [mail] => [homepage] => [comment_target_nid] => 167682 [depth] => 3 )