Women Health awareness campaign

My Name is Anita , i would like to reach out to the girls in the rural areas of Uganda to educate and enlighten them about menstrual health and hygiene. From my recent research, many women and girls are Unable to afford or access proper menstrual products, many rely on crude improvised materials like scraps of old clothing, pieces of foam mattress, toilet paper, leaves, and banana fibres to manage their menstruation – all of which are unhygienic, ineffective, and uncomfortable. This is hardly what i would consider a “solution”. Faced with frequent, embarrassing leaks and a susceptibility to recurrent infections, the impact is that millions of girls and women experience their monthly period as something that prevents them from engaging in daily life – some just hide and leak this makes the school going girls to miss school in fear of being ashamed or leaking all day long and in the long run,they drop out of school at a tender age. For those who can afford, you will find a girl has one packet of 8 pads only for the following 4 months despite the heaviness of flow. I believe menstruation should not be a barrier for any woman, anywhere. Women are the backbone of our societies and they deserve access to safe and dignified solutions to managing their periods, and the freedom to rise to their dreams and achieve their true potential. The critical unavailability of sanitary products in developing countries is a major barrier to education for girls of school-going age. The inability to effectively manage menstruation contributes to absences of up to 4-7school days each month, equating to as much as 20% of the academic year intentionally skipped, simply due to menstruation. Eventually many of these girls drop out of school entirely, increasing their likelihood of teen pregnancy health complications and early marriage, and further limiting their future career and economic opportunities. However, basing on the above mentioned challenges faced by girls country wide in rural areas, I realized that the best solution is to provide them with what is commonly known as “re usable sanitary pads, and a more explanation over these since iam not sure whether they are common in developed countries like the USA but i have leant that other names like cloth sanitary towels or Cloth menstrual pads are cloth pads worn in the underwear to prevent menstrual fluid (blood from uterine lining) from leaking onto clothes . They come with lock-in buttons which fasten the flaps to the underwear. They are a type of reusable feminine hygiene product, and are an alternative to disposable sanitary napkins or to menstrual cups. ... After use, they are washed, dried and then reused. Generally they are made from layers of absorbent fabrics (such as cotton or hemp) which are worn during menstruation, post-birth bleeding or any other situation where it is necessary to absorb the flow of blood from private parts or to protect underwear from regular discharge of vaginal fluids. After use, they are washed, dried and then reused. The reusable sanitary towel hold more value in this case for the following reasons; 1. These are very cheap ,one may need 4 reusables for 1 year as compared to the disposable pads where each month a girl will need 2 packets in year thats 24 packets .A packet of disposable sanitary pads costs an average of $5. Some women use up to two packets in a month, hence spending $9. In a year therefore, someone will spend about $100 on pads alone. But not all girls and women especially in the rural areas can afford such an amount of money, hence resorting to using homemade alternatives. 2. They are environmental friendly as there are no incidents of clogging of sewers and no pollution on burning as is possible in the case of disposable pads. It is estimated that billions of pads and tampons are put into the landfill every year. This is having a serious effect on the environment especially because traditional pads are packed in polythene and take many years to break down. Noteworthy, many of these pads are finding their way into seas and rivers, hence, causing severe problems for marine life. 3. They are long lasting and are readily available once acquired. One 16year old girl said to me ever since she got her reusables 4 months ago,she finds it easy to face each cycle without the worry of not having sufficient supply,this helps her go to school without getting embarrassing leaks. She no longer misses school and hopes to complete high school in due time. 4. The reusable pads are made of very comfortable fabric,this helps the girls to go about daily life without any disturbances or making everyone know about their private life and cycles.it also helps them to associate normally especially at school where they are shamed for leaking in public,leaving them focused both at home school and work. The comfortable fabric prevents unsolicited infections and cuts from other crude products like leaves.