How improvised sanitary pads help to keep girls in class across pastoral districts of Northern Tanzania
During his recent familiarization tour of Compassion Tanzania programs in the Northern Zone, the registrar of civil society organizations, Emmanuel Robert Mandawe Kihampa, was impressed by the ‘Sidai’ sanitary pads mini-factory run by local girls’ beneficiaries in Monduli.
Black News 
In remote, yet to be enlightened, nomadic pastoral communities of Northern Tanzania the girl child used to be an almost forgotten individual.
Always dismissed in the mostly male chauvinist world, her needs are usually regarded as non-existent
And even worse, the Young girls who hail from these communities hardly get the required self-awareness education and therefore get confused, if not scared, by their biological body changes upon entering puberty stages.
The menstrual cycle becomes a monster they never encountered before.
The pain, the discharge, the strange look from classmates and sometimes ridicule make school life a nightmare.
And the fact that these girls usually never have someone to talk to, most of them are compelled to drop from school, return back home and in order to ensure that they are never sent back to class, they seek refuge in early marriage.
However, the problem has now been solved to a greater extent.
And it was resolved by the girls themselves, through a series of special vocational training programs being conducted by the Compassion International Tanzania (CIT) in the Monduli District of Arusha.
The girls have been exposed to various skills, including making durable and reusable sanitary pads to help shield other students from effects of their periodical menstrual circles, that used to be a nightmare.
Among the beneficiaries involved in the sanitary pads’ production program at the CIT Monduli cluster is Nosim Joseph, a young girl from Orkeswa village and her colleague, Aikael Amos.
The girls are part of the program dedicated to produce sanitary pads specifically for school girls in the mostly pastoral districts of Longido, Monduli and Ngorongoro.
They are not ordinary pads either, these are more resilient, comfortable, environment friendly, reusable and can be used for 12 months maintaining their pristine condition even after regular washing. But even better, they help keep the girls in school.
“While they solve the health and environment problems, these sanitary pads have an even bigger mission; they help to keep the girls in schools,” explained Nosim.
“They are hundreds of miles ahead of industrial pads, but ours are not meant for profit, they are aimed at solving problems,” explained Mama Winnie Naftal, the project coordinator.
During his recent familiarization tour of Compassion Tanzania programs in the Northern Zone, the registrar of civil society organizations, Emmanuel Robert Mandawe Kihampa, was impressed by the ‘Sidai’ sanitary pads mini-factory run by local girls’ beneficiaries in Monduli.
“It is a good thing to produce usable items from locally sourced materials,” he said, adding that such quality products in future should even be exported to other countries and further increase incomes of young people in the CIT programs.
The Compassion Tanzania Director, Mary Lema said so far, the charitable organization works with over 600 churches across the country to rescue disadvantaged children and their families from poverty
“But Compassion International is merely a bridge, the real actors are the selfless people, the donors and supporters who dedicate time and resources to ensure that these children live better lives,” she said.
According to the Director, the donors having played their part, it is now left for members of the community and society to also contribute in the upbringing and improving the welfare of children in their localities.
