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Youth-Led NGO Donates Reusable Sanitary Pads to Malawi School to Help Girls Stay in Class
Doneta Kadakwinda, a Standard Seven learner who benefited from the initiative, stated that the sanitary pads are unaffordable for her and many others at the school.
Malawi: Maphunziro Movement Trust (MMT), a youth-led non-governmental organization based in Chinsapo, Lilongwe, has donated reusable sanitary pads to students at Malili Primary School in Traditional Authority (TA) Malili, on the outskirts of Lilongwe, writes Benson Kamonjola.
According to Memory Msatilomo, the communications officer for MMT, the organization began distributing the pads last year in response to reports of challenges faced by girls, including high absenteeism and dropouts due to a lack of access to sanitary materials.
Doneta Kadakwinda, a Standard Seven learner who benefited from the initiative, stated that the sanitary pads are unaffordable for her and many others at the school.
MMT has appealed to other stakeholders to assist in reaching more girls in other areas, as financial constraints limit the organization's ability to reach a wider audience.
In Malawi, 80% of the population lives in rural areas, with many spending less than a dollar per day.
It is in these areas that a majority of underprivileged girls can be found.
Currently, only inmates in the country's prisons have access to free sanitary pads, following an allocation of K30 million to increase the Malawi Prison Service's health budget.