Nthulo Primary School training in re-usable sanitary pads making
DAPP Malawi through 400 Primary schools, a DAPP Teachers Training Colleges (TTC) graduated Teachers Network, project is in partnership with Febbie Tambala, a Master of Public Health student at Melbourne University in Australia, training adolescent girls and women (members of the mothers' group committee) on how to make reusable sanitary pads using locally available resources for use during menstruation. The project is part of Febbie’s University's requirements for the award of a Masters degree.
Febbie said she chose to focus in the areas of menstrual hygiene and installing hand washing facilities around the school after establishing that adolescent girls tend to miss school during their menstrual periods which contributes to the drop out of young girls from school especially in the rural areas where there are poor families who cannot afford to buy disposable sanitary pads.
The sewing of sanitary pads training took place at Nthulo primary school in Nansato education zone in Thyolo district on 13 November 2018.
The Mothers' Group committee was provided with two sewing machines for continuation of the project activities after the training and income generation through selling of the reusable sanitary pads. The program will support over 500 adolescent girls at the school and from the surrounding communities.
Nthulo primary school is in a rural area where, George Mphanje the Deputy Head teacher is one of the DAPP graduated teachers who is also a member of the 400 Primary Schools.
The 400 primary schools project is a network of DAPP graduated teachers who stick together to share ideas and network on how they can improve the school environments around their schools.
Currently there are 90 teachers in the network who are working in 67 schools across Malawi
