Introduction of MHM and Pad-Making at Schools and in Communities

Promoting Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) and re-usable sanitary pad making in schools and communities in Uganda

Improvement of Menstrual Hygiene Management Among Schoolgirls and Women in Mityana
（2024～present）

Background

Due to challenges in following up on the start-up project implemented at Naguru Primary School since 2022, a new project commenced in April 2024 at Roadside Primary School in the Mityana area.

This shift was made to better address the needs identified during GBN’s visit to Roadside Primary School in 2023. During the visit, the school staff highlighted several challenges faced by women and girls, including the lack of changing rooms, insufficient access to sanitary pads, poor sanitation due to the absence of a stable water source, and limited knowledge and information on menstrual hygiene management in both the school and the community.

As a result, we transferred some sewing machines and other equipment previously installed at Naguru. Using this equipment, we are conducting activities such as menstrual hygiene management awareness and reusable sanitary pad-making training for students and women in the community.

We are excited to see how this project will continue to develop in the future!

Project Summary

◆Location: Roadside Primary School in Mityana

◆Activities: Raising awareness of menstrual hygiene management (MHM), training in reusable sanitary pad-making, and more
◆Target Group: 60 adolescents (both male and female) aged 12–18 and 20 local women aged 19–40

Activity Report for FY2024

【Activity Report 】
Project progressive report for May- August 2024

"MHM Start-up Project"
at the Creative Infant School in Naguru
（2022～present）

Background

In Uganda and other developing countries, there is a problem of girls dropping out of school due to menstruation because they cannot afford sanitary products due to poverty. Furthermore, the lack of proper knowledge about menstruation, hygiene, and sexual education is also a serious problem, as menstruation is not taught to adolescent boys and girls at school or at home due to a cultural background where it is a taboo to mention menstruation.

The Creative Infant School in Naguru, one of the slum areas in Kampala (city), Uganda, is very poor despite its urban location, with some children barely eating a enough meal a day. The girls have no knowledge of menstrual hygiene and have no sanitary products. In cooperation with the Visionary Lady Foundation'(VLF), a local organization working at Naguru Primary School, our start-up project was launched to create a tailoring center at school for making reusable sanitary pads, with the aim of preventing girls from dropping out of schools due to menstruation.

Project Summary

◆Location: Creative Infant School situated in Naguru Slum Kampala.
◆Content: Set a tailoring center for making reusable pads and providing MHM training at school
◆Target: 50 girls and 20 women

The impetus for starting this project came from Daisy, a representative of the Visionary Lady Foundation (VLF), requested us to create a tailoring center at school for its students and local women.

Daisy from VLF had been working with the Nagul Primary School for several years to address issues related to menstruation and established a Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) Club at the school. She trained students on menstrual knowledge and hygiene management. However, due to the lack of materials such as sewing machine and thread, training on reusable sanitary pad making was not available, and most girls were still using old cloth as a substitute.

A start-up project was launched by two university students who interned at GBN. They started a crowdfunding campaign as their first challenge to create an environment where both women’s groups and girls in MHM clubs can conduct menstrual hygiene management and make reusable sanitary pads.

Crowdfunding: Challenge to MHM start up project in a school in Uganda!

This challenge is just a start-up support, but eventually the goal is to continuously produce reusable sanitary pads at schools, distribute the pads to all the girls in the school and other school’s girls in the region, and also to help local women acquire tailoring skills to improve their income.