MARCH 2018
SALUT-Malawi is our latest project: it stands for
Sanitary Aid and Ladies’ Underwear To Malawi
Dear Friends of Malawi
We are SALUT-Malawi, the latest chapter in the Malawi-Twin story. Our start came out of a moment of epiphany last year. The words of Brian’s annual Malawi appeal at Corpus Christi Church mingled with those of a BBC news website article about the plight of girls forced to stop going to school when they start to menstruate and it prompted us to ask – couldn’t we help?
With our apologies to the male readers of this newsletter, cast your mind back ladies, to being a teenager and waking up on a school day with menstrual cramps. Remember how the pain, not to mention the anxiety about leaks and odours, inhibited your activities and undermined your self-confidence. And let’s not forget the further embarrassment unleashed as breasts developed and hips filled out. Now imagine living through those days with neither sanitary pads nor underwear.
This graph shows the results of a survey conducted in 2010 among 104 schoolgirls in Malawi. Talking about their experiences of menstrual hygiene in schools, it is clear that sanitary pads were their top priority among so many other pressing needs. The “Other” category included lights, a place to wash menstrual cloths, cleaning materials, doors, locks, toilet paper, underwear and a sick bay.
In Malawi, like much of Sub-Saharan Africa, the shortage of schools means that many children must travel long distances to attend classes. Some students are able to get a room in a dormitory next to the school. The schoolgirls in this survey all lived either at home or at their school dormitory. The results revealed that in one term they missed 85 school days due to menstrual hygiene issues. While 58% were off school for one to two hours, 15% were absent for more than three days. School was missed for body washing, pain control, changing stained skirts and general malaise. Yet these girls are the lucky ones. For most girls in rural Africa, the difficulties involved in managing menstruation means that the start of their period marks the end of their education.
It is easy then to understand how the scarcity of underwear and sanitary pads pose as much an obstacle to girls’ access to education as the lack of roads, school buildings, teachers and supplies. And yet it is a factor that is often overlooked by aid agencies and national governments. Perhaps menstruation, integral as it is to becoming and being a woman, is too awkward and embarrassing a subject.
So, with the support of Malawi-Twin and the International Women’s Network of Tonbridge, four of us used local networking and social media last Spring to organise collections of gently-used underwear, bars of soap and money for the bulk purchase of reusable cloth sanitary pads. There was an enthusiastic response as people were genuinely moved and, in a spirit of solidarity with their Malawian sisters, donated generously. Within three months we had filled 16 boxes with all sizes of ladies’ and children’s underwear as well as reusable diapers and raised just over £650! Cheeky Wipes, an East Sussex-based firm specialising in environmentally-friendly sanitary products, gave us a 35% discount on the bulk purchase of their reusable cloth sanitary pads which we used to buy 250 pads.
This is only a small drop in the ocean when you consider that Malawi-Twin supports more than 8000 schoolchildren. However, the feedback from the villages was that these donations made a significant difference last year. So, this time we are aiming higher and, dear friends, this is how you could help.
1. Spring clean your underwear drawers, gathering together all those bras, knickers and children’s underwear no longer, or never, worn and bring them to us.
2. Donate new packs of underwear, especially training bras and sturdy knickers for teenaged girls. Remember these need to withstand a lot of washing.
3. Donate soap. SOLID SOAP ONLY please. Beside the plastic nuisance, bottles of liquid soap are of little use when you are scrubbing clothes at the riverside.
4. Contribute towards the purchase of reusable sanitary pads. Please do not buy these yourself. Cheeky Wipes sold them to us for £2.66 compared with the usual retail price of almost £5. If you are a Corpus Christi parishioner, make your donation by cheque payable to “Corpus Christi Church Tonbridge”, so we get the Gift Aid.
5. Bring your donations of underwear, soap or money to one of our collection events at the Fisher Hall, Lyons Crescent, Tonbridge:
6pm-8pm, Saturday 24 March 2018
2pm-4pm, Sunday 25 March 2018
6. Encourage your children’s school or nursery to get involved. This year we will ask local schools and nurseries to host collection boxes for underwear, especially training bras. We also hope to engage with students through presentations and discussion to raise their awareness of what life is like for their peers in countries like Malawi.
Our collections at the beginning of March raised just over £350 and filled 5 boxes with underwear. We will be accepting donations until mid-April. If you would like to assist, donate or ask a question, please contact Maria Neves (07503663734) or Jacqui Nunes (07914771357).
Many thanks,
Alexandra, Claire, Maria and Jacqui