Provide a status update for your Innovation.
Since the inception of the project in July 2017, 500 adolescent female sex workers have been provided with menstrual hygiene management health education and 150 trained on the preparation of homemade washable sanitary pads.
How does your innovation work?
In other to enhance menstrual Health and hygiene practices among our target community, we carryout the following activities;
1) Community Mobilization
2) Peer Education: Through our peer education sessions, we provide adolescent female sex workers with education about menstruation in their safe spaces.
3) Distribution of sanitary products: we provide disposable sanitary pads to girls who do not feel comfortable using reusable pads.
4) Training on the production of washable/reusable pads: this is designed to reduce the use of disposable pads presently been used by girls and women in Nigeria. The disposable pads are expensive and many girls who cannot afford it tend to use other crude ways of managing their periods. This training enables adolescent girls to make their own sanitary pads and also earn an extra income by making reusable pads for their peers.
What Evidence do you have that your Innovation works?
We have documented sucess stories from persons who have been reached by the project with training on homemade washable sanitary pads collated by our Community Volunteers.
Do you have current users or testers?
What is your strategy for expanding use of your innovation?
In other to expand the use of our innovation, a website that is dedicated to the promotion of our innovation will be created and our products will be sold on the website. Our innovation shall also be promoted on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. In addition to our online strategy, we shall leverage on our health clubs for adolescent girls to promote our innovation.
Next Steps
In other to ensure that the project will continue to exist, our volunteers who are skilled in the art of sewing will be trained on the production of reusable/washable pads in large quantities. Through the project, we will begin production of reusable sanitary pads and the sanitary pads will be sold at a subsidized rate to members of our community in other to raise funds to continue supporting the project.