Pretty Box

Due to our possitive reputation, we were contacted by St Pauls secondary school in Nasuti (Iganga District) to intervene and assist with their rapid decline in girl student attendance due to period poverty. As a result, we partnered with Afripads based in the city of Kampala and purchased over 500 reusable sanitary pads and gifted the girls a Pretty Box containing 1 reusable sanitary pad, underwear, soap, and a menstrual cycle calendar, alongside an introduction to adolescence through drama and workshops.

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Aware that our Project was not sustainable, we returned in 2019 providing the school with a Sirius Industrial overlocker machine, Zoje Industrial straight stitching machine, button presser and various accompaniments of tools and fabrics.  Our facilitator Naomi Grossett taught the students and teachers (including males) how to make sanitary pads. This empowered the student and teachers, enabling them to respond to their own needs and making the project sustainable.

 

At the end of 2019, St Paul’s reported that despite the school enrolment increasing by 41%, the rate of girls dropping out of school had reduced to 0 within the 2 years that we supported them which confirmed why our work was necessary. Although we were unable to function in the same way throughout 2020 and 2021 due to school closures following Covid-19, we were still in position to raise funds and support over 300 girls with an Afripad and sensitization on how to use them through well trained facilitators on the ground.