Our Healthy Periods Initiative (HPI) aims to address the many obstacles faced by young girls in northern Uganda with regards to menstrual health. We manufacture sanitary pads which are distributed to school girls, refugees, and throughout the community. Our program hopes to mitigate the challenges of proper hygiene, access to information, and negative stigma while providing employment opportunities to young single mothers through our small social enterprise.
Young girls in Uganda face real challenges when it comes to managing their periods in a healthy way. Facilities often lack proper sanitation, putting women at risk of infection and discouraging girls from attending school during their monthly cycle. When a girl's self-esteem and self-confidence suffer, she may drop out of school altogether. These negative effects add up, preventing a young girl from achieving her full potential and living a healthy, productive life.
This project provides information, access, and opportunities to young women in the hopes of improving menstrual health for all. Sanitary pads are manufactured in our offices by young single mothers who have themselves been impacted by the negative stigma around menstrual health. Pads are then distributed to local schools and rural villages, where young girls (and boys!) receive information on hygiene and proper self-care in an effort to shift this cultural taboo.
We hope that the Healthy Periods Iniative (HPI) will result in a larger cultural awareness around the importance of menstrual health and its implications for women and girls. In 2018, we distributed 1.5 million packs of sanitary pads to schools and the community. We continue to see vast improvements in health and hygiene, self-esteem, and school attendance. We are creating employment opportunities within our small social enterprise and building a future with dignity for our girls!
