Country of Residence
Nigeria
Age
19
Project title
Pad Her Gender
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
Pad Her Gender is a youth-led project by Healthicate Africa that has brought menstrual health education, pad distribution, and open conversations to 559 girls and boys in four schools across Nigeria and Zambia, so no period pauses a girl's potential and boys become allies instead of sources of stigma.
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
lhttps://www.instagram.com/healthicate_afr?vrfl=MWl4d2swazNic282MA== https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-ikuomola
Project Category
My project is an existing project that I started
Project Stage
Scaling (We’re expanding impact to new locations or in new and innovative ways)
Founding Story: What was the spark that led you to start your project? What was the "Aha!" moment that led you to get started and see the potential for this to succeed?
The spark came from my sister's experience. There were times she could not afford sanitary pads regularly, so she had to use pieces of cloth instead. What hurt me most was not just the discomfort. It was the anxiety and embarrassment she carried, the constant worry of being noticed or stained. As a public health student, I began asking whether this was only her story. It was not. I learned that 23% of girls in Nigeria had missed school in a year because of their period, and that fear of teasing, especially by boys, keeps girls silent and absent. That was my "Aha!" moment: a period is not just a hygiene issue, it is an education and equality issue, and a pad alone will not fix it. Girls need pads, knowledge, and a school where nobody laughs. Boys need to be part of the solution, not left out of the conversation. So I started Pad Her Gender through Healthicate Africa, the youth-led organization I founded. With a small budget and a small team, we took education, pads, and open conversations to schools in Nigeria and Zambia, reaching 559 students. I believe it can succeed because the need is real, our approach brings girls and boys together, and my sister's story is one of millions. Her period should not pause her potential.
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
In many schools in Nigeria and Zambia, a girl's period can quietly push her out of class. UNICEF found that 23% of girls in Nigeria missed school in one year because of their period. In rural Anambra, over 40% of girls in one study were using cloth or rags. In Zambia, one of the top reasons girls gave for staying home was simply fear of leaking. Pads cost money many families don't have. Many girls also never get proper information about their bodies, and boys often don't get any, so the teasing starts. A girl who misses a few days every month falls behind her classmates for something she can't control. This is personal for me. I watched my sister go through it. When she couldn't afford pads, she used cloth, and the worst part was how nervous she was that someone would notice. Nobody should feel that way about something so normal. I think of my community, and I see girls who are just as capable as the boys beside them. If a period decides whether a girl shows up and speaks in class, we are losing a lot of talent for no good reason. That's what I want to change.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
Pad Her Gender goes into schools and works on three things at once: what girls know, what they can get, and how their classmates treat them. We run a session for girls and boys together. We explain puberty and periods, show how to use and dispose of a pad properly, and leave a lot of time for questions, because that's where the real worries come out: leaks, embarrassment, myths. Boys are in the room on purpose. When they understand a period is just biology, there's less to tease about and girls feel safer asking for help. Then we give pads to girls who can't easily afford them. In 2026 we did this at four schools in Lusaka, Ilesa, Agulu and Oyo. We reached 559 students and gave out 300 pads in the three Nigerian schools. Students' written feedback showed they understood puberty and why hygiene matters, and in video testimonials they talked about disposing of pads properly and feeling better about themselves. We did it on about ₦100,000, from The Bridge Foundation, Young Talent FIT Initiatives and some of my own money. School staff in Oyo asked us to follow up. Next, we want to run it every year around Menstrual Hygiene Day and leave something in each school: student peer educators, menstrual health clubs, and teachers who can support girls.
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
far, Pad Her Gender has reached 559 girls and boys in four schools in Lusaka, Ilesa, Agulu and Oyo. We gave out 300 pads to girls in the three Nigerian schools. We were aiming for 700 students and pads for 500 girls, so we fell short, mainly because money ran out. What we can show is what students told us. One girl at Reality High School said she learned that her period shouldn't make her feel less confident. Another said she learned that menstruation is normal and not a condition. In written feedback, students explained what puberty is, how it leads to periods, and why hygiene matters, and in video testimonials they talked about disposing of pads properly. Boys were in the sessions too, so they could see a period as normal instead of something to laugh at. At the school in Zambia, the staff told us the students needed follow-up. We haven't measured school attendance yet, so I won't claim girls are missing fewer days. That's what we want to track next year, with simple before-and-after knowledge checks at every school. For us, impact will look like girls who stay in class, ask for help without shame, and boys who stop the teasing.
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
I am not going to claim we invented menstrual health education. Plenty of groups hand out pads, and others run talks for girls. What's different about Pad Her Gender is how we put it together, and who we put in the room. First, we include boys on purpose. Most programs only talk to girls, which leaves the people doing the teasing out of the conversation. Research from Zambia shows fear of being teased, especially by boys, keeps girls from taking part at school. So we teach boys the same facts and give them a reason to be allies. A girl can't feel safe in a school where half the students think her period is a joke. Second, we don't treat a pad as the whole answer. Each visit combines a talk, a demonstration, a Q&A where students can ask anything, and pads for girls who can't afford them. Handing out pads alone doesn't fix shame, and a talk alone doesn't help a girl who has nothing to use. Third, we're young people working with young people. Our team is students and youth volunteers, and we ran this across Nigeria and Zambia on about ₦100,000. That shows the model is cheap enough for any youth group to copy. What comes next is where I think it gets more original: student peer educators, menstrual health clubs, teacher training, and school pad banks, so the work continues after we leave.
How many people are on your team?
41
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
I am the project lead, and four campus coordinators, Memory Musonda, Raheem Ibrahim, Jayeoba Deborah and Onyekereh Stella, helped deliver it on the ground by coordinating volunteers from their campuses. Each coordinator took charge of the school visit in their own area, from getting the school's go-ahead to running the session and handing out pads. I set the plan and budget, but they made decisions at their schools, because they knew the students and teachers best.
What’s Next: What are the next steps you plan to take to grow or strengthen your project over the next year? If your project is still in the idea stage, describe the steps you will take over the next three months to launch or begin developing it.
Our first year showed us what to fix, so that's where we'll start. Next year, we want to reach 12 public schools and up to 10,000 students, and give pads to 4,000 girls. This year it was 559 students in four schools and 300 pads, so we know it's a big jump. We'll get there by running sessions at school assemblies, so we reach every student at once instead of a single class, and by bringing in bigger teams from more campuses, so that each school has volunteers who are ready to deliver the sessions. We'll go back to the schools we've already visited, because staff told us students needed follow-up. We'll run the next round around Menstrual Hygiene Day on 28 May and make it an annual event. We'll also measure properly. Every school gets the same attendance sheet, a record of pads given out, and a short knowledge check before and after each session. We want to start tracking whether girls miss fewer school days. And we'll leave something in each school: student peer educators, a menstrual health club, and teachers who know how to support a girl in an emergency. Finally, we'll plan the money early. This year we ran short, so next time we'll confirm funds before committing, and find local partners to help buy pads.
How do you encourage other people to join your project or learn about the problem you’re working on? If you have a new idea, tell us how you will do this in the future.
Healthicate Africa has over 90 volunteers across 11 African countries, and Pad Her Gender grew out of that community. When we opened applications for it, around 80 people from 14 campuses applied to volunteer. We only had the funding to run it at four, so most of them didn't get a chance to take part. That tells us people want to be involved, and what's holding us back is money. On the ground, 559 students joined our sessions, girls and boys, along with the teachers who hosted us. Five of us led the project, and The Bridge Foundation and Young Talent FIT Initiatives backed it. We also used posters and other materials so the message carried past the day we visited. We try to get people to act, not just listen. Boys are in the room because we want them to speak up when someone teases a girl. Students asked questions, and some shared what they learned on video. Staff at one school asked us to come back. Next year we'll bring in the volunteers we couldn't use this time, train them to run sessions, and give each school its own peer educators and a menstrual health club, so students keep the conversation going after we leave.
