By Samirah Faruk | Project Leader
Dear Family, Friends and supporters of Serendipity Healthcare Foundation,
This subject is one of the most closely guarded secret that no female wants to talk about be in the menstruation stage, perimenopause or menopause. There are a lot of knowledge gap on menstrual hygiene practices, signs and symptoms of onset of menstruation, menopause that is still not being talked about and most Vulnerable are our girls and women in rural communities.
We saw this need during our Ware and Sanitation Projects that our girls stay away from school during their periods because they do not have access to sanitary towels that would last them for a long time before being replaced with a new one. We have partnered with another organisation to make washable, reusable sanitary towels for our girls aged between 13 - 18 years in secondary schools and 18 - 35 years in tertiary institutions such as colleges of education etc. Due to the current economic situation, most of our girls cannot afford the disposable sanitary wears and thus use rags and cloths which is a breeding ground for germs and bacteria. Hence when we partnered with an organanisation in Minna, we procure washable, reusable sanitary wears that are durable and one pad lasts for a year then it is changed for a new one. A pack contains 6 pads which would last them for 6 years, this is very user friendly and the feedback we have gotten, the girls we have impacted thus far are enjoyinh using it as the permeation of the germs and bacteria is reduced as it is washed and dried in the sun just like their rags but only more hygienic and healthier.
A pack of six pairs cost $2 dollars or NGN2,000.00 for 1 girl that would last her for six years if she uses 1 pad per year or 1 year if she uses all six in the pack.
For our perimenopausal and menopausal women, we would run a workshop for them to teach them what to do to have a smooth transition into menopause and for them to understand the changes that are happening to their bodies, how to cope with the symptoms and understand that it is okay to feel and go through all these and have self care and love. Cost of Training is $25 per participant with training packs
We have thus far distributed over 100 of such reusable, washable sanitary wears for 100 school girls and young women in tertiary institutions and thus far gotten a donation of NGN210,000.00 into our Nigerian account by local donors which is equivalent to $150.
Join us on the 28 &29 of May 2024 (World Menstrual Hygiene Day 28th May) to provide our girls with free resuable washable sanitary pads, and hygiene cards and for our perimenopausal and menopausal women a workshop talk on self care and self love, understanding the syspmtoms and know it is okay to feel that way.
Follow us on our social media handles to be updated on what we do. Facebook/serenhealthcare, Instagram/serendipityHea 1, twitter/serendipityHea1 or our website on http://serendipityhealthcare.org.in
Best Regards,
Samirah Faruk
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
