Made by Girls for Girls: Binti Pads

Binti Pads is a project under our program for teenage mothers, our Mabinti Project. Binti Pads is a social enterprise of young mothers manufacturing, donating and selling reusable sanitary pads. The program also aims to dispel taboos and increase knowledge about menstruation health through female health education.

The young mothers will learn to make reusable sanitary pads, donate them to girls in school, while educating them about adolescence and menstruation, sexual infection diseases, UTI, early pregnancy and HIV.

We believe these young mothers, who have personally experienced a difficult situation, will have a positive effect on young girls through educational workshops about female health education.

Menstruation, Women and Reusable Sanitary Pads

Many women and girls have been looking for an alternative to disposable menstrual pads. Some women are already using tampons, while there are some who have also been using menstrual cups. But if these two are not your favorite choices, reusable cloth menstrual pads can be your best bet. It might seem a little challenging for those who are used to disposable sanitary pads. However, once we demonstrate the positive aspects of reusable menstrual pads, you might change your preferences. Many women in Tanzania are aware of these sanitary pads, but they can’t afford to buy them, as period poverty is a serious issue for many girls from marginalized families. So, here is everything you need to know about reusable menstrual pads.

These pads will also help prevent girls from missing up to five (5) days of school every month, because this will solve their sanitary menstruation problems and will give them confidence. Many school girls are not going to school during their period, which can equal up to one month per year of neglected education. This is due to period poverty and lack of access to sanitary pads, as well as the stigma, shame, and/or fear of leaking blood on their school uniforms.

Advantages of Reusable Menstrual Pads

  • The reusable cloth pads are extremely comfortable and feel especially soft on a woman’s delicate personal area. The fabric used is safe and hygienic.
  • There is no chance of skin rashes since the cloth material does not block your sweat or moisture like disposable pads do, (because most other pads use plastic.)
  • There are no plastics, chlorine, synthetic chemicals, artificial fragrances and pesticides that can lead to allergic reactions and even hormonal disbalance (unlike disposable pads).
  • The biggest advantage of using a cloth pad is that it will not have a funny smell, like pads with plastic, which will emit a bad smell because of the way plastics react to blood.
  • The fit of the reusable pads is perfect, they won’t leak, and they will stay in place using the holder and band.
  • The reusable pads will last much longer, which saves money.
  • The reusable pads will help protect our environment as they can be used up to three years and no plastic will end up being either burned by hand or buried in the ground.

Our Binti Pads

Reusable sanitary pads come in a variety of fabrics, so there will be a pad for every girl and woman no matter her requirements. We stock pads made of cotton and hemp fabrics. They dry well and offer excellent absorbency, depending on the fabric used. Cloth pads are an excellent investment and will see you through many years of periods.

It is common to have different pad sizes for different days in a girl’s/woman’s cycle. For heavy days, the more absorbent fabric and longer pads will give greater protection. Whichever fabric is chosen, we are confident she’ll find our reusable cloth pads more comfortable than disposable pads.

We have pads made of cotton and light hemp.
Cotton – natural fabric, very absorbent, breathable, soft, average drying speed.
Light hemp – viscose fabric, very absorbent, breathable, soft, very slow drying speed.
Synthetic – stays soft even in hard water areas, very quick-drying natural fabric.

Binti Pads: “Being Free”

Good Hope has created a new pad project for teenage girls. Our goal is to provide sanitary menstruation pads to girls who can’t afford them in order to fight period poverty and raise girls’ overall school attendance. It is common for girls to not attend class during their menstruation for nearly one week per month, because they do not have hygiene pads. So, they are missing many valuable class lessons.

These pads are washable and reusable for more than one year, as well as environmentally friendly. Young mothers from Good Hope are tailoring four kinds of pads from different materials. One of them is best for using at night, the other one is best for using daily.

One package includes four (4) different pads and costs 24.000 Shilling. These 24.000 Shillings will be used for the pad material, for the tailor mothers and for the education of the children of the tailor mothers.

We want to reach as many girls as possible in Moshi and the Kilimanjaro region and educate them about the importance of hygiene during their menstrual cycle. Whenever we provide Binti Pads, we also provide a menstrual health seminar in order to raise girls’ health awareness and fight stigma about menstruation. We want girls to feel more free, confident, and relaxed during their menstrual cycle!

Our aim is it to break the taboo surrounding menstruation and to encourage young girls to feel comfortable and open to speak about this and help their friends through this communication.

We want to make a positive change in the life of girls and give them the opportunity of “being FREE” during their periods.

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Girls have been provided with our Binti Pads and menstrual health training so far