Sustainable sanitary wear project

Our new volunteer Nora Chirikure is taking the lead on a fairfight-sponsored project to eliminate period poverty within our local communities in Zimbabwe in partnership with our local ambassador of change Tinashe Munemo and her peers at the University of Zimbabwe.

Nora Chirikure

​In order to achieve one of FairFight’s ultimate goals of gender equality, it is imperative to eliminate the difficulties in managing menstruation that are faced by many girls and women. According UNESCO, one in every ten girls misses school during her period in sub-Saharan Africa. A girl’s menstrual cycle can also be a reason for a lack in confidence and motivation to engage in physical activities such as martial arts. In Zimbabwe access to sanitary wear is a problem fueled by a combination of poverty, misinformation, stigma and superstition. Therefore, through the Sustainable Sanitary Wear Campaign we hope to provide long-lasting solutions to girls and women whose lives are made difficult due to the lack of access to sanitary wear in Zimbabwe. As FairFight we hope to raise funds in order to purchase sanitary wear for girls and women. 

---

​During this campaign, we aim to work closely with students from the University of Zimbabwe, led by our FairFight Ambassador of Change Tinashe Munemo. A partnership with local students will be very beneficial to FairFight because we will gain more insight into the problem we will be tackling and access to a wider range of solutions to tackle the problem. We also hope to build a long lasting relationship with the students so that we can work on further projects empowering boys and girls together. 

​So far 30 moon cups have been generously donated to FairFight. Since moon cups are not commonly used in Zimbabwe, accompanying the donation we will engage girls and women in a conversation surrounding the stigma of using moon cups and in so doing encourage them to use moon cups. The moon cups will be donated to older girls at the Musha wevana orphanage in Marondera. Furthermore, moon cups will be donated to girls at the Kaite Drop-in center in Kambuzuma. Some moon cups will also be donated to the committed University of Zimbabwe students. 

​In line with FairFight’s objective to empower local businesses, we will purchase additional menstrual cups from producers in Zimbabwe such as the Butterfly Cup Company. Since menstrual cups are not suitable for younger girls, we will donate reusable pads purchased from local companies to these girls. We will invite representatives from the local producers to host workshops on how to use their respective sanitary wear. During these sessions we will also explore what other difficulties the girls face due to their menstruation and what effect these challenges have on their lives. Moreover, we will also discuss with the groups of girls what empowerment means to them and find out more about their personal goals. A couple weeks after donating the sanitary wear, we plan hosting a feedback session to discuss how the girls feel about the sanitary wear that was donated to them. Lastly we also hope to incorporate boys into one of the last sessions so that they can also be familiar with matters surrounding menstrual cycles.