By: Nadhifa Jama
Worth Noting:
- That is how the urge of coming up with a more practical and sustainable ways to fight period poverty begun lingering my mind. At first, I had crazy thoughts like, can a woman suspend her periods whenever she can’t afford to buy sanitary pads!!? Can she just go and urinate out period blood whenever Aunt Flow pays a visit and there is nothing to lay her on!!!!? Definitely the answer is a NO.
- All this are impossible, unless you want to get pregnant and give Aunt Flow a nine months break. Hahira!! after nine months prepare for a Big Bhang!!!! of Aunty flow with another 100 times more expenses.
- Finally, an idea came. What if we embrace the use of re-usable sanitary pads? Will this serve equal purpose as the one time sanitary pads, will it be effective
For two years now, I have been trying to creatively and critically think about sustainable ways of solving period poverty among girls from vulnerable background.
Period poverty is the struggle majority of women and girls face when trying to access menstrual products. Each monthly cycle, whenever Aunty Flow pays us a visit, we all rush for our sanitary products depending on our preferences and financial capabilities. However, it’s is not always the same for every woman and girl living in economically vulnerable situations. For majority, these moments mean a total disrupt to their daily activities including educational activities, health as well as mental health. Period poverty causes physical, mental, and emotional challenges. It can make people feel shame for menstruating, and the stigma surrounding periods prevents individuals from talking about it.
Since the onset of the COVID 19. So many youth groups and CSOs came on board. In a bid to try fight period poverty. I also founded a girl’s empowerment Initiative called ‘Empower Her Initiative’ (EHI) which has been actively running in western and coast region and now it’s evolving to ‘Big & Bold Sister Talks’ that now intends to focus more on non-clinical research and evaluation of SRHR as well as Advocacy. For EHI, the stories are no different, part of our activities includes conducting pad drives. We receive most of our donations from well-wishers especially from the coast where people are very generous. We later distribute them to girls from various communities. We even introduced talk sessions with adolescents in order to add value to the distributions.
Yes, it is a noble thing to do, very philanthropic indeed. But the question still remains. For how long are we going to be issuing free one time sanitary pads to this vulnerable girls? another question is that, in order to create a longer lasting impact (sustainable impact) how many times and how much do we need to give to them in order to make sure the girls remain safe for a longer time? I have witnessed experiences where, immediately after distributing the 2 to 4 pieces of sanitary pads to girls, some will approach and humbly request if we could keep coming back to their communities more frequently for a distribution. Meaning, we still have a huge need and whatever we just did is not sustainable! (CEOs and founders of most youth groups can relate to this)
That is how the urge of coming up with a more practical and sustainable ways to fight period poverty begun lingering my mind. At first, I had crazy thoughts like, can a woman suspend her periods whenever she can’t afford to buy sanitary pads!!? Can she just go and urinate out period blood whenever Aunt Flow pays a visit and there is nothing to lay her on!!!!? Definitely the answer is a NO.
All this are impossible, unless you want to get pregnant and give Aunt Flow a nine months break. Hahira!! after nine months prepare for a Big Bhang!!!! of Aunty flow with another 100 times more expenses.
Finally, an idea came. What if we embrace the use of re-usable sanitary pads? Will this serve equal purpose as the one time sanitary pads, will it be effective? Will the girls love it? Will it be more sustainable? Maybe you have answers to some of these questions. My thinking is, are usable sanitary pad can be used for a period of up to 2 years if regularly used. However, if it’s used once in a while it can serve for quite a longer time. Maybe the many youth groups and charity organizations that frequent conduct pad drives could invest more on distributing re-usable sanitary towels. I am trying to think and analyses the impact that can create.
Personally I keep a packet of re-usable sanitary pads in my closet. This is for emergency purposes. Sometimes, Aunty flow can decide to pay me a visit at night, late evening or even very early in morning when I don’t have my supply of the onetime sanitary pad. Sometimes, it’s not even about the weird timings but all because I am breaking and I can’t afford to buy a pad immediately. The re-usable sanitary pads usually come in handy at such a moment. I’m very sure that this can apply to any vulnerable girl or woman out there. We can all keep a packet or two of these re-usable sanitary pads for such moments.
Research shows that, re-usable pads are just as safe as the one time one and even better if used properly. It is biodegradable hence suitable for our environment, it’s re-usable hence economically friendly. Initial price is relatively cheaper hence affordable.
Below is a procedure on how to effectively use re-usable sanitary pads:
- If you have blood-borne infections like hepatitis C, HIV, etc. You need to be extra careful while storing and washing the re-usable sanitary pads.
- Always change the pads at regular intervals of 6 hours (maximum) to avoid irritation and infection due to the wetness of these pads.
- Either wash them immediately after using or keep it packed in a plastic bag/ zip-lock bag if immediate washing is not possible. (Applies for school going adolescents and those going to work)
- Pre-soak in regular water for 30 minutes followed by hand wash or machine wash using soap or detergent. Clean thoroughly and then dry in direct sunlight/ open air as they act as natural disinfectants.
- If you’re using home-made pads, ensure that the fabric used is nicely cleaned and hygienic.
So, Sisters, let’s not shy away from using re-usable sanitary pads. For any queries about this topic, please feel free to reach out to me via email talksbigsister1@gmail.com
Nadhifa Jama – Executive Director Big & Bold Sister Talks.
