By
Ruth Kalinga Chirwa
Presentation Outline
 Introduction
 Problem statement
 Project objectives
 Locally-made sanitary pads project
 Achievements
 Challenges
 Way forward
 Conclusion
 Acknowledgements
Introduction
 The overall objective of the National Sanitation Policy (2008) is to
achieve universal access to improved sanitation and safe hygiene
practices whilst ensuring sustainable environmental management for
economic growth.
 It aims at ensuring that all people own or have access to improved
sanitary facilities and that they practice safe hygiene and safe recycling
of liquid and solid waste for sustainable environmental management
and socio-economic development.
 The policy advocates the use of participatory methods in delivering
health and hygiene interventions.
 On sanitation and hygiene in rural areas, the policy’s objective is to
increase access to improved sanitation and to promote safe hygiene
practices, new technologies, proper waste disposal and recycling of
wastes.
Introduction contd
 To achieve this, local artisans and sanitation promoters
need to be trained in the production and marketing of
sanitation hardware, respectively.
 On gender, the policy encourages the establishment of
gender sensitive mechanisms when creating user
committees.
 On children and youths, the policy advocates early
exposure to good sanitation and hygiene.
 It also advocates for the provision of services and facilities
at a subsidized price to the poor.
Problem Statement
 Menstruation is one of the contributing factors to poor performance and high
dropout rates among girls in LDCs.
 Most girls do not go to school during their monthly periods as they are afraid
of staining their clothes.
 For those who are courageous enough and attend lessons do not participate
fully in class which affect the participatory teaching and learning approach
 Hence Several organizations indulge themselves in assisting the girls with
factory- made sanitary pads in order to minimize the problem
 However, this has been proved to be unsustainable and unhygienic as most
schools do not have incinerators.
 They are also expensive as they can not be re-used.
 It is against this background that (FAWEMA) trained the MSG at Liwonde
Secondary in Machinga district, Malawi in locally- made sanitary pads for the
girls.
Project Objectives
 In general the project aimed at training and equipping FAWEMA MSG at
Liwonde Secondary School with life skills which can enhance sanitation and
hygiene at the school and at the same time improving the girls participation
and performance in class more especially in science subjects.
 Specifically the study was conducted to: enable the MSG make sanitary pads and pass on the knowledge to peers,
daughters and future generations.
 make girls attend classes comfortably without worrying about un-eventualities
that are to do with their menstruation.
 raise self-esteem of girls in class when answering questions that demand them
to stand up or demonstrate something in front of other students.
 improve sanitation and hygiene at the school as the headteacher at the school
complained of frequent blockage of toilets due to the use of sanitary pads
which are bought from shops which they used to distribute to the girls.
Sanitary Pad Making Project
 The MSG was trained on how to make the sanitary pads using locally
available materials that FAWEMA provided to the MSG for the pad
making exercise.
 The pad is made from a piece of cloth, plastic paper and cotton wool or
cloth. The sanitary pad has strings which are tied on to the waist to
prevent dislocation
 FAWEMA asked the MSG to make the pads and sell to the students at
the school and the neighboring schools.
 FAWEMA also suggested the price for the pads to be K100.00 each, the
price which was thought to be affordable to students.
Sanitary Pad Making Project contd
The MSG bought the materials for pad making which
include cloth, sewing needles, tape measures, threads,
plastic papers, cotton wool and pairs of cutting
scissors.
The exercise of pad making started on the 12th August
2011.
Achievements
 The MSG through the PTA managed to build the
pit latrine which is a girl child friendly
 The locally made sanitary pad has helped to
improve the attendance among girls as the pads
help to keep the girl child in school in “all seasons”
thus whether the girl child is menstruating or not.
 The MSG has also helped in the sensitization on
reproductive health to the girls at the school and
neighboring schools
Achievements contd
 The MSG has won favors from the teachers at the
school as they assist the MSG by allowing other needy
students to learn free at the open secondary school.
 Transparency and accountability. The MSG has a bank
account with the First Merchant Bank , Liwonde
branch, for transparency and accountability of funds.
Challenges
 The MSG has a big responsibility in taking care of the students who
have returned back to school as some of the parents for these students
still have doubts for their students while some come from the child
headed households and some come from the families which are
extremely poor.
 High number of needy students who cannot afford to pay K100.00 for
the pad hence it bounces back to the MSG as a result they keep on
contributing now and again to raise funds.
 Long distances the students travel to and from school makes it difficult
to keep the changed locally made sanitary pad hence they wear the pad
for a longer period that expected exposing themselves to rush.
Way forward
 To lobby for more funds so that MSG can increase the
number of students it assists.
 To write proposals for the construction of the girls hostel
 To ask well wishers to assist in the drilling of borehole at
the school. Possibility is there of having water without
much problems if the borehole can be drilled because the
geological of the area is much promising. For example,
there are two artesian wells in distance of about 400m on
both eastern and western side of the school.
 To negotiate with the PTA to use part of the GPF for the
Conclusion
Locally- made sanitary pad project proved
to be a success at Liwonde secondary
school on the part of students. However it
is not profitable to the MSG in order to
support some of its activities including
paying school fees and house rent for the
most needy students. Hence well wishers
should stretch their arms to rescue them
Challenges contd
 Water shortages at the school makes it difficult for the girls to observe
hygienic practices such as washing themselves when they get very wet
with the monthly period.
 Hygiene – requires washing with soap
_not to be shared
_Drying in the sun
-not inserting
 Lack of enough resources. FAWEMA’s MSG does not have enough
resources to spread this skill to neighboring schools. Hence it is hereby
asking other organization to join hands in improving the hygiene of the
girl child at the school and other neighboring schools through pad
making training.
 Funding and sustainability
Acknowledgements
•God for his mercy.
•WaterAid for funding this conference
• The FAWEMA National Coordinator and her Office for funding the Pad making
Project.
• FAWEMA MSG for their dedication in pad making project
•All teachers at Liwonde Secondary school for their support
•T/A Sitola GVH Kalonjere and all chiefs from the villages surrounding the school
for their moral support and
encouragement
Lets stop the fire of poverty which is burning the African girl child and unite in
uplifting her from the circle of poverty !!! Thank you & God bless you all.