Lobby creates cheaper, reusable sanitary pads

The reusable towels by the Society Empowerment Project address the inadequacy in accessing menstrual health hygiene products.  

Sanitary towels made from plastic are relatively expensive, single-use and take hundreds of years to decompose, causing environmental degradation.

However, Loraine Atieno from Oyugis realised that sewing biodegradable pads was the lasting solution she had been looking for.

Atieno, who is SEP programme coordinator under the health department focusing on sexual reproductive health, menstrual hygiene management and health awareness, started the programme in October 2021.

According to Atieno, whenever she was at home, she would get requests from young girls, including teen mothers, to buy sanitary towels.

After buying, they would share the pieces but more of the girls would come with the same request.

“I was overwhelmed and thought of a lasting solution that would see the girls get towels even when I was not around.”

She had learnt about reusable sanitary towels because it was affordable and environmentally friendly. 

"That is how my journey began with sewing of the reusable sanitary towels and now we are here; distributing to the girls. SEP has employed teen mums at the same time selling to different organisations to sustain ourselves and get to pay and give tokens to those we have employed."

Atieno has a small bag containing three reusable pads, a cleaning towel and a small piece of soap.

After removing the pad, she explains, the user can wet the towel and clean herself.

The soap is for cleaning the pads.

Unlike disposable sanitary pads, Atieno's products can be used, washed, dried and reused for 24 months. 

This, she said, helps significantly lower the volume of menstrual waste and helps reduce the solid waste disposal challenges associated with the hygiene products.

"Our product has three layers. The inner layer is porous to allow for the flow of the menses before they are absorbed by the middle layer. The outer layer, which is waterproof, then prevents it from staining the pants or dress," Atieno explained.

The materials used to sew the reusable pads, she said, are sourced locally. On average, two pads can be used when a woman has her period.

"A girl can have a pad on as others dry. This is better than an average of six in a month.

A packet of Atieno's reusable pads sells for Sh500. 

Her innovation has also proven to be a solution in maternity wards as well.

"Women who bleed after giving birth prefer our towel over the commonly used cotton wool. The women say wool traps heat, is sticky and causes rashes on the vulva and thighs," Atieno said.

Her products combat heavy flow of blood and leave no rashes.

Her products are yet to reach the shelves but, she explained, SEP is collaborating with various institutions to sell.

The profits are diverted towards sewing other products that are then given freely to needy girls.

SEP also teaches girls in schools how to use, and clean the product, and only use dry ones to prevent infections.

As the world marks International Women’s Day today, thousands of girls in Homa Bay are celebrating the initiative.

The theme is ‘Cracking the Code: Innovation for a gender equal future’. 

Girls, Atieno said, no longer miss school for days during their periods.

The organisation has distributed more than 800 free pads to girls and women and has sold 2,500 to organisations.

USAID is currently implementing the five-year Western Kenya Sanitation Project that focuses on the sanitation and hygiene part of MHM. The aim is to create financially sustainable, transformative, replicable, and locally-owned sanitation marketplace in eight target counties of Bungoma, Busia, Homa Bay, Kakamega, Kisii, Kisumu, Migori and Siaya.

The objective is to increase access to and uptake of market-based improved sanitation and FSM products and services. It will also increase access to and uptake of market-based improved Menstrual Health Management products and services at the household level.

Stakeholders drawn from the national and county governments, development partners, research and academia, private sector and civil society met in Kisumu for a consultative workshop convened by USAID -WKSP.

The workshop foreshadowed the commemoration of this year's World Women Day which has been themed 'Embracing Equity'.

Neville Okwaro, the USAID in Menstrual Hygiene lead in WKSP, said the stakeholders committed to developing standards, protocols and guidelines for menstrual waste management and disposal.

They also promised to review the Waste Management Regulations of 2006 to include menstrual waste.

"The stakeholder's commitment during the workshop is that the national and county governments should allocate budgets towards MHM and menstrual waste management," Okwaro said.

The private sector recognised that poor disposal of menstrual waste characterised by non-segregation of menstrual waste from the point of collection to final disposal is an environmental hazard. 

They committed to using data, addressing sociocultural myths and taboos associated with menstrual hygiene through awareness raising and developing a community-based curriculum on menstrual waste disposal in partnership with all stakeholders.

The workshop made a further declaration to call on the national government to create legal frameworks that address barriers to private sector involvement in the menstrual waste business and to advocate for budgetary allocations.

They said county governments should prioritise menstrual waste management and facilitate adequate resourcing while closely working with the private sector and other partners.

 

Edited by Josephine M. Mayuya