Reusable Sanitary Pads Project – Let’s talk Period.

As part of work to develop and create sustainable access to period products, Inspire Women Men and Children, offers training on how to make reusable sanitary pads. It has also been helping communities to make affordable, washable, reusable sanitary pads.

Schoolgirls in Zimbabwe who can’t afford to buy disposable sanitary pads miss on average five days of school each month. That adds up to three months a year! This means they fall behind in a way they can never catch up. They end up using rags, weeds, newspapers, cow dung and leaves to absorb menstruation blood, endangering their health.

Women who cannot afford to buy sanitary towels are often unable to go to work during their period, which means they miss part of their income. Disposable sanitary towels are a luxury for many rural women; they are available but not affordable.

We are changing cultural taboos by openly talking about periods, offering quality menstrual care solutions and providing health education. We’re also providing income generating opportunities that both improve health and give back to women and girls days of schooling and work that would otherwise be lost.

Our Training

We offer a training package, covering how to make reusable sanitary pads products, menstruation hygiene, sexual reproductive health, HIV/AIDS Intervention, sexual and gender based violence, preventing and eliminating early child and forced marriage, family planning and accessibility of services.

We deliver our training package in schools and communities serving the most vulnerable and marginalised girls and women, in both rural and high-density urban areas. The organisation seeks to adopt a “train the trainer” approach for sustainable and scalable delivery within poor communities across Zimbabwe.

We have collaborated with other organisations to build female friendly toilets and the infrastructure needed to provide clean water. These are crucial for women’s health during their period. They bring back the self-esteem, dignity and privacy lost when women are denied decent washing facilities.

Reusable Sanitary Pads Project – Make A Donation!

Providing health interventions

We have carried out ten health interventions since 2016 which have brought huge relief to the Umguza and Bulawayo communities. We have conducted wellness programmes and sexual health and reproductive health interventions in both communities. Our recent major intervention, carried out in partnership with African Communities Trust, involved the provision of dental work including the extraction of teeth.