EMPOWER HER: Skills Training and Sanitary Towel Production Hub

A project at Mercy Home soon to get underway is called 'Empower-Her.' A team will be trained to manufacture reusable sanitary pads for teenage girls.

This project aims to Empower vulnerable women and girls with vocational skills in sewing and entrepreneurship. They will:

1. Produce and distribute Re-usable sanitary towel kits to schools and women in the community.

2. Raise awareness on menstrual health management and Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV) prevention through school and community outreach.

3. Create a sustainable social enterprise to generate income and promote dignity.

The three industrial sewing machines needed have recently been purchased; an embroidery zig zag machine, a straight stitch machine and an overlocker.

The next gaol is to purchase the fabrics and core materials as donations are made to get production underway. You may partner with this project through donations and/or promoting the project to others.

SETTING UP THE MACHINES AT MERCY HOME

PROBLEM STATEMENT:

The teenage phase of life or adolescence is a period of transition from childhood to

adulthood. Majority of individuals in this phase are generally between 14 and 17 years

of age. Such individuals experience various changes including physiological changes

depicted in form of ability to reproduce and increased body size. This transition is related to menstruation among girls which ushers them into adulthood.

Unfortunately, the changes affect girls from challenged socio-economic background negatively since their families do not have sufficient resources to purchase sanitary towels for use during the menstrual cycle. Which may result into girls dropping out of schools.

During menstrual periods girls face shame, embarrassment and anxiety when they

stain their clothes where they cannot afford menstrual hygiene products. This is occasioned by the fact that girls who do not have the funds for sanitary towels are usually put at risk of being cheated by men who entice them with finances to buy the sanitary pads after which they demand sexual involvement for their moneys.

Ultimately, poor girls find themselves in sexual relationships in exchange for money to

buy sanitary towels. This leads to unplanned pregnancies and related dangers of child

health and maternal difficulties because adolescent girls are not able to safely give

birth to babies at such early years.