About the Project

Femitation

Girls in rural Uganda cannot afford sanitary towels and because of this they end up missing several days of school, and those who daregot to school and stain their uniforms with period blood are teased and bullied by their male counterparts. This has resulted into many girls dropping out of school or performing less than their male counterparts. Together with the s students, we can make menstruation more comfortable and less shameful. Our core mission is to be able to provide sanitary towels that will ensure the comfort of the students so that they do not have to feel uncomfortable during the period to the extent that they start missing school.The sanitary towels will also be able to last upto a 5 hours this will ensure that students do not stain their uniforms. We will do this by collaborating with the students in order to come up with a product that is designed to their preference.

Our theory of change

This social venture will equip young girls with the knowledge and technique needed to make sanitary towels. By being able to make sanitary towels on their own and at their own convenience, these girls should be able to be more comfortable during their menstruation. By providing them with a necessity that they lacked. The lack of sanitary towels keeps many girls away from school especially during their menstruation, the home made sanitary towels should provide them with enough comfort and confidence that they need to attend school during their menstruation. To add on to that, the use of homemade sanitary towels is very eco friendly since we will be using biodegradable cotton material and secondly, the sanitary towels can be reused since they are washable unlike disposable sanitary towels. The pads are very comfortable and do not leave have any side effects for the girls like rashes. Unlike disposable sanitary towels, homemade sanitary towels are cheap and very easy to make. Using an instructor, the venture will teach the girls how to use the sewing machines first. Then with the materials i.e flannel and cotton cloth we will start making the sanitary towels. The sanitary towels consist of two layers. The outer layer which will be made of the cotton cloth and the inner layer which will be made of the flannel cloth. The outer layer is made in such a way that allows for the removal and insertion of the inner layer.

Our impact

Providing sanitary towels will help curb the number of school absenteeism by young girls and also help to decrease the number of female school dropouts. This will lead to better performance of girls in school and keep many of them in school. Most of the girls who drop out of school end up being married off at a very young age. By keeping the girls in school, this venture will help curb teenage marriages that usually end up with the exploitation of the girl child by her husband’s family.

Our risks and challenges

The potential risk right now is the uncertainty of the venture and its means of funding. In order to expand the venture, I will need to partner with many organizations and most of the organizations that I have contacted at this point are unwilling to help due to financial constraints.