Ending Period Poverty for rural girls in Tanzania

With the help of your generous donations, we have been able to distribute even more reusable sanitary pads along with menstruation education training to rural girls in Tanzania, helping to end period poverty for these girls. 

Supporting the most disadvantaged girls to have access to reusable sanitary pads, enabling them to stay in school: With your generous donations we have been able to work with our local partner Afya Plus to provide reusable sanitary pads to 115 Lyra sponsored girls. Lyra sponsors the most disadvantaged “ultra poor” secondary school girls, who without support, are at the most risk of dropping out of school entirely. Providing these girls with reusable sanitary pads is breaking down one more barrier that may stop their full engagement in education. 

We are delighted to be working with Afya Plus in the making of the reusable sanitary products. Afya Plus uses locally available materials and employs local women to make the pads – all contributing positively to the financial and social development of the wider community! 

Our new Gender and Equality Officer, Dorice, will be supporting each of the sponsored girls with relevant menstrual hygiene information as the packs are distributed, helping to build their knowledge and understanding of good hygiene practices. On a recent trip to visit the sponsored girls, Dorice reflected on how important the provision of sanitary pads and awareness raising is for these girls 

“Most Tanzanian girls use unhygienic materials like pieces of old cloth during their periods. This causes them to be uncomfortable, embarrassed and in fear of staining their school uniforms as the materials they use are inadequate and insubstantial.   Because of this embarrassment they are  prone to miss several days of school each month during their period. 

Due to misinformation and cultural norms these girls have been misinformed about menstruation.  They hold the belief that  no one should know about your periods; periods are dirty, you shouldn’t associate with other people whilst menstruating.  Sanitary pads are expensive and  some parents/guardians misguide their children telling them that the sanitary pads are not good.  This  makes the girls lose their confidence and prevents them even asking their parents/guardian for  assistance in purchasing sanitary pads when they have their period.

Menstrual hygiene management is very important for girls as inappropriate management can lead to infection and the stress and shame associated with menstruation can affect the mental health of girls and women negatively.  Adequately and sensitively supporting girls during menstruation restores their dignity.”

From our work on the ground in Tanzania we see how a simple intervention, like providing sanitary pads, education and awareness raising, can transform a girl's ability to manage their periods safely, with dignity and without shame and stay in school. There are so many more girls who can benefit from this intervention in rural Tanzania. Can you help them by making a further donation to our campaign? Every donation truly makes a big difference to the lives of rural girls in Tanzania. Thank you!