NGO donates reusable pads

Masvingo (Masvingo Star- New Ziana) – A Masvingo non-governmental organisation is seeking the help of visually impaired women professionals to teach visually impaired girls how to use reusable sanitary pads.

Speaking when Ignite Afrique handed over some packets of reusable sanitary pads at Margareta Hugo School of the Blind at Copota on the outskirts of Masvingo recently, the programmes director, Charles Maregere said his organisation did not have the capacity to train the visually impaired girls how to use the reusable sanitary pads.

He expressed the hope that his organisation will manage to get visually impaired skilled women that can teach the visually impaired girls how to use reusable sanitary pads when schools open for the second term.

Ignite Afrique has an ongoing programme training girls how to make and use reusable sanitary pads in Mwenezi district but are facing challenges at Copota since they could not train the visually impaired.

The organisation handed over 167 packets of the reusable sanitary pads, with each secondary school learner getting two packets and those in primary school getting a single packet.

“We are saying that if a girl messes up her dress and gets laughed at, she loses confidence and does not go to school for a few days but the teacher won’t stop teaching because she is not there and the cycle repeats itself, thus we have come up with the idea of reusable sanitary pads that can last up to 60 washes,” he said.

Maregere urged men to be advocates for the cause, and buy pads for their daughters.

He expressed hope that reusable sanitary pads would, as is the case with condoms, be distributed in various public institutions and beer halls for free.

Ignite Afrique started donating sanitary pads in 2018 in Mwenezi where it also trained more than 400 girls from different schools on how to make the sanitary ware.

Maregere said his organisation is also targeting urban schools and would be launching ‘Support a Sister campaign’ which involves female learners making two reusable pads and giving one to a vulnerable girl.

The organisation has several partners within the Southern African region including Botswana, Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa and Democratic Republic of Congo.

New Ziana