Mbambu Gorret is a peer educator working with Reach A Hand Uganda and Save the Children International Uganda from the Maliba sub-county. She has dedicated her life to transforming the lives of young people in Kasese through peer education to make informed life decisions, especially for the girl child. She routinely meets with 15 young women every month to provide health information and ensure they access health services at the health facilities. The young women on several occasions have stated the need for access to menstrual health products as they are only provided at a cost at pharmacies, drug shops and shops. With limitations to access funds, some have failed to access the pads leading to no-shows at the health education session, using rudimentary alternatives like grass or engaging in sexual activities to access the funds needed.
Mbambu Gorret is not any different from the young women she supports, she too has faced the challenge of access to menstrual health products and has used most of the alternatives named above. This struggle is shared by many young girls in the schools of western Uganda, creating a pressing need for a solution.
RAHU in 2023, selected young people to be part of the training of making reusable sanitary pads, Mbambu was overjoyed to be selected as she knew this would address some of the menstrual issues she was currently facing. “being selected for the pads training was a great opportunity to improve issues of access to pads for me and the young women here in Maliba subcounty. I extend my heartfelt appreciation to RAHU and Save the Children for their unwavering support to us ” Mbambu and 8 other young people were taken through a one-day training at Mukathi Health Center II where the trainer provided materials and a step-by-step guide on how to make the pad from locally available materials. “We were also provided with more materials to teach other young women in the community and I used these to reach out and train the 15 young people whom I usually meet with for the weekly learning sessions,” she says. She was able to reach out to other young people in the community, especially those who had shared the need during the school engagement activities.
The training has changed Mbambu’s life and the lives of the young people she has been able to reach. “ l am glad to be part of the transformational journey for young women in my community and bring onboard a solution that is addressing one of our key health problems”. The sense of self-worth and confidence among these girls is now palpable, contributing to a positive shift towards addressing period poverty among young people in Kasese. Mbambu and her group have started collecting a little money to buy some more materials to make pads for themselves as a group. “I believe this will contribute significantly to reducing unintended pregnancies and early marriages associated with the lack of sanitary pads in my community”. Gorret says.
The impact of this intervention reached beyond her empowerment. “Leveraging my newfound skills, I even received a contract to produce 75 reusable sanitary pads for sale from a local contractor”. Mbambu intends to further work with the support of the young people once a down payment has been made to procure materials. The recognition and provision of this contract also address the financial needs of Mbambu.
Mbambu recommends that more interventions like these need to be made in the different communities in Kasese to empower the girl child. Access to sanitary pads remains an issue for many and Mbambu is glad to be making a difference in her community through the skill she gained.
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