Her Needs Tanzania
One girl. One cause. One pad.
About HerNeeds Tanzania
At its core, Her Needs Tanzania is driven by a vision to ensure that no girl has to miss school or compromise her health due to inadequate menstrual hygiene resources. What started as a simple idea has now grown into a powerful movement, touching the lives of thousands of girls and empowering them to pursue their education and dreams without hindrance.
Our initiative primarily focuses on distributing reusable sanitary pads, which are not only cost-effective but also environmentally sustainable. By providing these pads, we aim to offer a long-term solution that can significantly improve the quality of life for these girls, enabling them to attend school regularly and participate fully in their education. These sanitary pads are called ‘SAFEPAD’ and are anti-microbial pads which are safe to reuse and can be sued by one girl for 3 years.
In one packet a girl is supplied with 4 pads. 1pc is for the night and 3pcs of day pads. There is also a pouch within the box meant to be carried around in case a pad needs to be changed as you can use the pouch to bring the dirty pad home and wash it for re-use later. The box outlines how to wash and use the pad both in English and Kiswahili.
With the support of our community, sponsors, and volunteers, Her Needs Tanzania has already reached 18,000 girls in Arusha and 2,000 in Maasai villages, so in total 20,000 girls, and it aims to expand its reach to other regions of Tanzania, including Dodoma, Singida, Zanzibar, and Moshi. We believe that by addressing this critical need, we are helping to break the cycle of poverty and inequality, one girl at a time.
01
Sanitary Pad Sponsorship to Secondary Schools in Arusha
Through our fundraising work, we were able to sponsor around 20,000 girls within ALL the secondary schools within Arusha with reusable antimicrobial sanitary pads which will last them over 3 years. Our aim was to ensure they have access to this basic necessity to support their ability to access education and good health. By providing this essential support, we empower them to stay in school and pursue their dreams, breaking barriers and promoting gender equality.
02
Education on menstural health and 'period talk'
We actively engage with the community to raise awareness, educate on menstrual hygiene, and promote the importance of supporting young girls in need. Through workshops, events, and outreach programs, we strive to create a supportive environment that values and uplifts these young girls. Though every distrubution before even mentioning the distrubution of the pads we educated the girls about the importance, why they should use it and how to use the pads. We also quizzed and heard back from the girls as representatives spoke out to their peers answering the questions posed to them.
03
Football Camp- periods affecting sports involvement of girls
As a passionate extension to my research into how teen girls handle periods, I decided to zoom into the sports aspect of it, learning about how it impacts their sports involvement and passion. I coached a 3 week football camp, coaching around 60 students (32 girls and 28 boys) for almost 4 hours every day. Once the soccer camp was over I put I'm place a soccer team and taught one of the teachers to oversee and coach the football for the teams we created to assure sustainability.
04
Breaking the stigmatisation and taboo surrounding menstruation
Our empowerment workshops focus on building confidence, self-esteem, and life skills among young girls. By providing them with the tools and knowledge to navigate challenges, make informed decisions, and pursue their goals, we empower them to create a brighter future for themselves. We have also spoke about empowerment, promoting this on social media (insta: herneeds_tz) and within the shcools and girls social dynamics we encourage courageousness to talk about it in addition to opening up to family members and speaking to any and everyone about this. We have also spoken about this in local Tanzanian media with complete openness, attempting to break the stigma.
05
Empowering Maasai Women
In efforts to help their business and empower them further I created a website for them: https://www.maasaimarkets.info/ which highlights their businesses and shared this website across the local hotels in the Arusha area to encourage tour operators to bring tourists here as they can display their business online and to in-turn create more business. Our workshops consisted fo education and empowerment. I did a lot of work with them about empowering them to work and hustle in business and to break away from societal stereotypes which dictate a woman's role as staying at home. I spoke to them and educated them on menstrual health and periods too and using the right resources to manage them to prevent illness, bacterial infection and disease.
About Safepad
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