She keeps girls in school with reusable sanitary pads

A woman makes reusable sanitary pads in Mpigi District. Courtesy Photos

What you need to know:

  • To make ‘that time of the month’ more comfortable for girls in school, Ms Gorreti Ndagire, a 24-year-old trains girls and women in making reusable sanitary pads as an option to replace the costly disposable pads.

About 22 per cent of adolescent girls in Uganda drop out of school due to lack of sanitary towels. This is the bitter reality according to a survey by Reach a Hand Uganda - a non-profit organisation which found out that many girls cannot afford sanitary towels.
Determined to keep girls in school, some people have created reusable pads as an alternative for those who can not afford the additional monthly expense of feminine hygiene.

Ms Gorreti Ndagire, a 24-year-old, came up with the idea to help rural girls who can not afford to buy disposable sanitary pads. Most of these disadvantaged girls use anything from rags, old clothes to toilet paper among others to avoid the potential embarrassment that comes with staining their dresses during “that time of the month.”

Ndagire is among those who skipped school during their menses. So much so that she eventually dropped out. After completing her Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education in 2015, Ndagire failed to join University but was enrolled at the Social Innovation Academy (SINA) in Mpigi District.

SINA is a facility that creates self-organised and responsible learning spaces, where disadvantaged youth unleash their potential for positive change as social entrepreneurs. As a requirement, SINA candidates are taken through a boot-camp that unleashes their potential.

Equipped with a loan of Shs500,000 from a friend, Ndagire embarked on her dream.

Motivation
When Ndagire listened to a 14-year old girl’s experience who skipped school and eventually dropped out die to her menses, she was was forced to create a solution.

“This girl dropped out of school because her parents thought she was ready for marriage when she told them about her first period. This was my soulful moment when she shared her story. That is how we started making menstrual kits,” Ndagire shared.

When Ndagire conceived the idea of making low-cost and reusable sanitary towels, she wanted to help other girls to stay in school.

“During the boot-camp, I was tasked to create a social innovation that was environmentally sustainable and could help me make money. Producing reusable sanitary towels came to my mind,” she recalls.

To improve women and girls’ dignity, Ndagire trains girls in making re-usable sanitary pads.
Ndagire and her cohorts have not stopped at making the sanitary towels. They have also involved women and girls in this training.

“Training women and girls across the country on how to make the sanitary towels is a campaign we are doing to break the silence about menstruation and ask for help if we need it,” Ndagire says.

Process
Ndagire and her colleagues under the brand-name- ‘Safe Girl Reusable Sanitary Pads’ produce the sanitary towel kits for rural girls and women.

“In these kits, we have four reusable pads for one year, two cotton knickers and a menstrual guide booklet,” she explains.

Ideally, Ndagire and her colleagues purchase most of the materials which include; - Sleeve, fibre, and the waterproof materials which they import from the United Kingdom (UK).

When the materials are procured, they create a template on a sheet of cardstock, then use it to cut two pieces out of cotton flannel. Then the two pieces are sewn together with the right sides facing the pin.

In their production value chain network, Ndagire and her colleagues employ a team of five women who help them produce on a massive scale and earn a commission.

Pricing, market
Because the available towels on the market are still costly, as one of the reasons why girls drop out of school, Ndagire thought of making her products affordable while inventing this idea.

Each kit has four towels and this costs about Shs10,000.

So far they have reached five communities and at least more than 3,000 women in districts like Soroti, Mpigi and Masaka have been sensitised on menstrual hygiene and how to make these towels using the available materials.

On a daily basis, Ndagire can produce up to 100 towels depending on the demand.

Women trace the shape of a pad during a training session. Determined to keep girls in school, some people have created reusable pads as an alternative for those who can not afford the additional monthly expense of feminine hygiene.

Their market is mostly in rural areas for the girls and the women because the pads take one year.

“We believe Shs10,000 per ($3) kit that is going to be reused for one-year is a fair price from their annual income of $100 (Shs370,000),” Ndagire notes.

To grow her market and clientele, Ndagire has partnered with schools where they carry out sensitisation campaigns about the pads to the students. Feedback helps them improve their product.

She says: “We have been improving on the quality. We started with materials that used to take six months. The ones we use now take one year.”

In all this, Ndagire and her colleague’s business has accumulated revenue worth Shs8.2m right from their initial Shs500,000.

Their dream is to reach at least 500,000 women from their current 3,000 in Uganda and contribute to environment protection from piles of single-use towels.

Challenges
Just like any other start-up, Ndagire says they are faced with the challenge of people’s perception especially those who are so used to cotton clothes and don’t believe their products work.

“You have to make them believe that our products are safer than what they are using and it’s a product that they need,” Ndagire adds.

Cultural beliefs is the other challenge. When they visit schools to interest the girls about their products, they are met with resistance sometimes. Much as there was some resistance to them initially, many have now bought the idea.