In March 2022 we announced an exciting new partnership with Days for Girls Australia (DFGAL) a non-profit organisation that creates and distributes sustainable menstrual products to women all over the world. This joint venture has been a long time in the making, after our board member Briege Young, led a pilot distribution of the kits in 2019.
The kits are beautifully made in bright African materials, and contain environmentally friendly washable sanitary pads. They are sewn in a nearby enterprise, which means we are also able to support the local economy in our project area. By giving these to pregnant women, we help them avoid infections and stigma that they can otherwise face while trying to manage their post-partum bleeding at home. Feedback from the kits has been positive and they are very well received.
In order to supply every member of our pregnancy clubs with a kit before they birth, we launched a successful joint fundraising campaign with DFGAL around Mother’s Day. Drawing on our combined support bases, we raised enough money to order the first batches of kits to support these women.
Our workers Mordecai, Coni, Margret and Peter, completed the Ambassadors of Women’s Health (AWH) training program, to build their skills and understanding in things like menstrual cycle, reproductive health, women's rights and use/care of the reusable menstrual health kits. This training is a requirement for anyone distributing kits to women so they can impart a deeper understanding of how the kits contribute to women's health and well-being. Two large education flip charts were also delivered to our office to help share this knowledge.
Our workers have already started teaching women these things in our pregnancy clubs, as well as sharing ongoing information about birthing, attending antenatal clinics, and support in breastfeeding. By bringing women together and building their capacities, we are helping babies thrive and whole communities to benefit.
Our sincere thanks to all our supporters at Positive Aid for making this new partnership successful. And to the DFGAL team, Mary Connelly-Gale (Chief Operating Officer), Carolyn Walker (Victorian State Coordinator), Trudy Poole (Distribution Coordinator) and Lee Baker (Volunteer Chapter Director of Days for Girls Camberwell VIC Australia Chapter). Their seamless administration and support is strengthening a local enterprise in Kenya, and directly helping mothers and babies.
We will continue to jointly fundraise once a year around Mother’s Day to ensure a sustainable supply of kits to continue this vital work.