Let us play! Cheap sanitary pads for girls in East Africa
Esta inscrição foi selecionada como finalista no desafio
Gamechangers: Change the Game for Women in Sport.
We are planning to provide affordable sanitary pads to girls in Kenya so they can participate fully in sports and in school.
Sobre Você
Informação de Contato
Title
Ms.
First name
Sarah
Last name
Forde
Your job title
director, M&E and research
Name of your organization
Moving the Goalposts
Organization type
community based organisation
Annual budget/currency
This field has not been completed
Localização
Project Street Address
Box 605
Project City
Kilifi
Project Province/State
Project Postal/Zip Code
80108
Project Country
Quênia
Sua ideia
Choose your sport: (check all that apply)
Soccer/Football
If you chose "other" for Sport, please define in 1-2 words below
What approach does your initiative incorporate?
Product
Year the initiative began (yyyy)
2007
Paste your video code here:
If your project has a website, paste the web address here:
Plot your innovation within the discovery framework:
Barrier
Girls internalize cultural stereotypes
Insight
Embed sports with other activities
This field has not been completed. (333 words or less)
Dê um nome ao seu projeto
Let us play! Cheap sanitary pads for girls in East Africa
Describe Your Idea
We are planning to provide affordable sanitary pads to girls in Kenya so they can participate fully in sports and in school.
INOVAÇÃO
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence?
We are planning to provide affordable sanitary pads to girls in Kenya so they can participate fully in sports and in school.
How many people does your innovation serve or plan to serve? Exactly who will benefit?
We plan to serve 5000 girls and young women in first year by providing them with affordable sanitary pads. However we hope to be able to scale up the social enterprise once it is established.
Do you have any existing partnerships? If so, please list and describe.
We are working with Professor M.K. Musaazi at Makerere University in Uganda. The Kids’ League (a sport and development organization in Kampala, Uganda) and Marsabit Girls’ Secondary School, Kenya are also linking with Professor Musaazi to use his technology. We also have a strong relationship with the Ministry of Education.
In which sector do these partners work? (Check all that apply)
Citizen sector (non profits, NGOs) .
How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing?
There is a lack of affordable and hygienic sanitary pad in Kenya. Women often use pieces of cloth or other materials. This leads to girls missing a lot of school and to some of them becoming sexually active to get money to buy pads, in turn leading to risk of sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy. Another result is that girls are unwilling or unable to play sports. We will start a social enterprise to produce affordable sanitary pads using the design of Professor Musaazi in Uganda. They are made of papyrus grass which grows relatively locally. We have conducted a feasibility study and determined that we should develop a business plan and we are seeking a volunteer to develop it. Already we conduct peer education sessions on reproductive and sexual health as part of football practices and matches, and we would incorporate the new sanitary pads into this education. The packages of our pads would contain information about sexual and reproductive health.
Impacto
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact
Girls will play football with confidence, attend school more regularly, and be better educated about sexual and reproductive health.
What does impact/success look like? Please list any tangible measures of the impact of your innovation
1) Girls will be able to play football whenever they want; 2) Girls will be able to attend school when they are menstruating; 3) Sanitary pads will be affordable; 4) Girls will be less dependent on boys and men to get money to buy sanitary pads and as a result sexual health will improve; 5) Sanitary pads will cost 35 shillings for a package of 10 locally-made sanitary pads as opposed to an average of 60 shillings now; 6) Our pads will be distributed through the schools; 7) The social enterprise will be profitable enough that it can contribute financially to the development of more social sports activities; 8) The social enterprise will provide employment to girls. Most importantly we talk with girls about things important to teenage girls: sex, boyfriends, pregnancy, feelings, desires—and menstrual protection. This project is innovative because in providing pads we will impact on many other problems including school attendance, sexual health, and sports participation.
Is there a chance that your project could change policy (within an institution or government)?
We want there to be a more comprehensive government programme to provide pads for school girls (in a similar way to school feeding programmes in some schools). Toilet facilities in the schools need improvement, as do toilet facilities in the community. And we need to make sure that disposal of sanitary pads in an environmentally sustainable way is part of the programme.
Aside from financial sustainability, how do you plan to grow the initiative or expand your intended impact?
We will develop a business plan, and then apply for funding from various organizations. We will start small scale, and recruit a person with relevant business skills to drive the social enterprise.
Temas relacionados à inscrição
SUSTENTABILIDADE
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)?
We will develop a business plan, and then apply for funding from various organizations. We will start small scale, and recruit a person with relevant business skills to drive the social enterprise.
Financing source
Annual budget
5.500.000 Kenyan shillings. (Moving the Goalposts, not for the sanitary pads project, which will be separate, and which has no budget at the moment.
Annual revenue generated
Annual revenue generated: 5.500.000 Kenyan Shillings (as above, this is for Moving the Goalposts as a whole).
Number of staff (full-time, part-time, volunteers)
5 full time & 4 part time staff, 300 volunteers in the office and on the sports fields, all of them girls and women.
What are the main barriers to financing your initiative, and how do you plan to address these barriers?
The main barriers are lack of business skills and (so far) lack of financial backing. The target group are from families living in poverty – profit margins may be small.
What are the major challenges with regards to partnerships?
This field has not been completed.
A História
What stage is your project?
Ongoing project .
What was the motivation or defining moment that led to create this innovation? Tell us the story.
Moving the Goalposts (MTG) had been operating as a girls’ football and development organization for over four years when this innovation was first created. Girls talked often about how they wanted to sit our practice because they were menstruating. There was also a lot of publicity in Kenya, driven by NGOs such as UNICEF and the Girl Child Network, about how girls would miss days off school when they had their periods. Girls were not able to afford sanitary pads, the toilet facilities in school were not adequate and some girls even talked about how they slept with men or boys to get money to pay for pads. It became more and more clear that a lack of sanitary pads was leading to poor performance in schools for girls, early sexual activity and increased risk of pregnancy and HIV infection and a barrier to participation in sports. In response to this MTG, through its partnership with the Ford Foundation in Nairobi, was linked to Professor Musaazi from Makerere University who had developed the technology to make affordable sanitary pads out of papyrus grass, a locally available material. The meeting with Professor Musaazi was the defining moment as it became clear that an East African solution to an East African problem had been found and that with cooperation and determination MTG could do something about this problem facing girls in Kenya.
Please tell us about the social innovator behind this initiative
I came to Kenya as a volunteer, with experience as a football coach and as a journalist in both radio and print and a passion for women’s equality, developed through studies at university and field work in Africa. I was also a trained football coach. MTG was created by a committed group of teachers, local government and researchers, to eventually become a registered community organization reaching out to close to 3000 girl players with football leagues for girls at 27 fields across the district.
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Comentários
Hey,
I love this idea and remember the entry from last year's competition- I talk about it all of the time when I give an example of removing a barrier to sport, particularly for girls.
I think this innovation has widespread application for real social change. Have you considered asking a large corporate entity to underwrite the commercialization of the product? Are you able to scale this up to other regions of the world where this plant exists?
Stephani
Nike
awesome entry,very innovative and certainly a change agent story. your entry also is exciting and addressing a critical issue too Sarah. I am of the beleive that if we are to win the fight agains HIV we have to put the power to prevent HIV on women as they are vulnerable, due to both biological and social reasons. I like that you incorporate Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health Education in it. There is guy in MYSA kenya, his name is George Nange and he has wealth of information around sex and sexuality, he is currently helping with the curriculum development for the Kicking AIDS out Network, try to liase with him and see how best he can help you around trainings.
awesome entry,very innovative and certainly a change agent story. your entry also is exciting and addressing a critical issue too Sarah. I am of the beleive that if we are to win the fight agains HIV we have to put the power to prevent HIV on women as they are vulnerable, due to both biological and social reasons. I like that you incorporate Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health Education in it. There is guy in MYSA kenya, his name is George Nange and he has wealth of information around sex and sexuality, he is currently helping with the curriculum development for the Kicking AIDS out Network, try to liase with him and see how best he can help you around trainings.
awesome entry,very innovative and certainly a change agent story. your entry also is exciting and addressing a critical issue too Sarah. I am of the beleive that if we are to win the fight agains HIV we have to put the power to prevent HIV on women as they are vulnerable, due to both biological and social reasons. I like that you incorporate Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health Education in it. There is guy in MYSA kenya, his name is George Nange and he has wealth of information around sex and sexuality, he is currently helping with the curriculum development for the Kicking AIDS out Network, try to liase with him and see how best he can help you around trainings.
Hey Sarah,
Great to see you up with your exciting project. I was very impressed with the young women working with you in Kilifi and am glad that our organisations in Kenya will be able to work together.
I think it is important for all of us who take our ability to be clean and comfortable as we participate in sports to support your project for girls across East Africa. Again it shows that many things we can take foregranted as women in Europe need to be fought for in other contexts. SOmetimes small improvements can make a big differnce in the levels of participation of girls.
Keep up the great work.
All the best from Berlin,
Cameron
Heather Cameron
Executive Director
Boxgirls International
Professor - Freie Universitaet Berlin
Hi Heather, Kitso and Stephani,
Thanks for your supportive comments. We are going to really work on this in 2009, to make it a project that can impact on both the economic and health status of girls and young women. The pads will be affordable for girls and will be distributed through our wide network of girls involved in the programme. The girls who sell the pads on behalf of MTG will be able to keep the profit so we will be spreading the economic benefit amongst girls. Some girls will be employed in the production of the pads. We hope to provide reproductive health information in the packets of pads and an avenue (through their local sales rep ie girl footballer) to return their questions and concerns about their health and relationships to the head office for correct information to be sent out. In this way it beocmes a programme that gives girls the chance to menstruate with dignity so they can attend school and play sports. It also means some girls will earn small amounts of money so they can cover their basic needs and it will provide social support and health information to disadvaantaged young girls.
Thanks from Kilifi
Sarah
Congratulations! On behalf of Nike and the Ashoka's Changemakers team, we are honored to declare both Tunaweza (Moving the Goalposts) and Boxgirls International joint winners of the Women’s Prize for the “Sport for a Better World” collaborative competition! We hope that by submitting your innovation, you have benefited from the online discussion and have acquired some valuable feedback and insight towards your initiative.
Please remember that your selection for this prize does not preclude you from winning the “Gamechangers: Change the Game for Women in Sport” competition in any way, or guarantee finalist status—all entries will be equally evaluated per the Changemakers criteria at the completion of the entry period. We will follow up with you with regards to your prize. As dual winners, you will share in the prize equally.
Again, Congratulations and Happy New Year!
Best wishes,
The Changemakers Team
Dear Sarah,
Thank you for submitting your entry and congratulations on winning the women’s award! Your project is innovative and has impacted the game for women in sport. We would like to learn more about the progress and development your innovation has undergone since the last competition. Specifically, how is the business plan progressing? What specific problems or barriers are you facing as your initiative continues to grow and achieve greater impact? Our community members have provided insightful comments and we encourage you to continue to receive feedback through thoughtful engagement.
*Since the judges spend more time reading the entry form than the comments, please also update your entry in addition to responding to our questions and other comments. This will provide the panel of expert judges with the most comprehensive explanation.
Thank you! We look forward to learning more.
Best wishes,
The Changemakers Team
Kaylena Bray
Ashoka's Changemakers
Sarah,
It is great to see the work of Moving the Goalposts evolving.
Women Win would like to invite you to join their group. Your experience would bring great contribution to the topics being discussed!
http://sportforchange.changemakers.com/en-us/group/womenwin
Good Luck!
Dear Sarah,
The issue of affordable sanitary pads for young girls in East Africa is big and it is a shame that it has taken a volunteer to bring this awareness. God bless you for your good work.
I grew up facing this issue. I had to help some of my classmates in school with sanitary pads because they could not afford it. Your initiative is going to address many issues that young girls are facing now.
When I was in school I loved sport and I was very active. My classmates avoided sports especially when they were mensturating. I had the necessary menstrual protection that allowed me to participate actively in sports.
All in all I know for sure that this will improve participation of girls in sports in Kenya.
Good job Sarah.
Omukuba
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