Supporting Menstrual Health in Tororo, Uganda

After successful reusable sanitary pads workshops in Zambia, Tanzania, and Kasese, Uganda, Bookfeeding volunteers have continued with these efforts in a brand-new library in Tororo, a small district town in Eastern Uganda. The newly established library within Aputiri primary school is already full of books, and the active staff of the school welcomes any idea for workshops. Around twenty-five young ladies and teachers took part in a reusable sanitary pad-making workshop. 

Reusable pads are considered to be - when properly maintained - hygienic, long-lasting, ecological, and affordable menstrual products. They are very convenient, especially in areas where a disposable variant is either not accessible, affordable, or hard to be disposed of.

Learning how to make a reusable pad does not require any special skill besides a basic hand-

sewing technique and it can be learnt in a couple of hours. Moreover, afterward, it is very easy to transmit the skill to others. By owning a couple of reusable pads girls and women stress less during their period and manage to go with their lives as usual, not skipping school, work, or free time activities;

feeling more comfortable and focused.

Thanks to The Bookfeeding Project’s support three more workshops took place in the surrounding areas of the library – in the higher altitudes of the Mt. Elgon Mountain, in Bukyabo, Sironko district; furthermore, in Namatala, in a slum area in Mbale city and in Kapchorwa town.

Note from Míša, the Bookfeeding volunteer and ambassador of Ugandan and Tanzanian

libraries:

The workshops took place as part of my Ph.D. research on menstrual health. The purpose of my study is to explore the broad menstrual experience of women, by examining factors and challenges influencing menstrual health in a context. Menstruation even though being a natural part of a woman's life is not always seen in that light and is covered by a number of myths, restrictions, and taboos. That results in challenges women need to deal with on a daily basis and that influence not only their participation and productivity in work and education but also their physical and psychological health or social lives. My explorative study is trying to uncover and compare these challenges in different regions of Mt. Elgon, Uganda.

 Míša