Gorgeous kitenge fabric of Tanzania!
Keep your eyes open for updates in this space!
Our new website!
Days for Girls Podcast!
For those of you interested in the menstrual health movement, Days for Girls has a new podcast! Our workshop produces washable menstural pads in Tanzania, providing period dignity, and making possible for girls to stay in school while they are having their periods. Check it out!
African Black Soap
So excited to have made my first African Black inspired soap. It’s not 100% true to traditional black soap as I didn’t make the lye from ash, but maybe that will be the next step! Can’t wait to try this soap made with Red Banana Peel ash, Fresh red banana peel, banana, local cocoa, and of course unrefined shea butter.
TemboHeart Project Update
From Lynn Marlow @ TemboHeart Project:
I’m so happy to report that we have gone beyond our project goal for this year! Our first menstrual kit distribution and educational meeting took place September 9 at Osotwa Primary School at Endulen village and 43 girls are received their kits and education.The girls gathered in a classroom with the headmaster, teacher, my project partner Lemali Sabore and Dr. Mameso Frederick. During the two-hour meeting, they learned about female anatomy, the menstrual cycle, hygiene and health issues and received the kits which can last up to three years.Distributing kits at a primary school in this remote area is ideal because many Maasai girls begin school later and, by this age, have already started menstruating. The educational portion is especially important as it is not included in their curriculum and, for the girls boarding there, both education and supplies are not readily available. We are currently busy planning the next two meetings for October and November and will keep you updated as we go along. Thank you so much for your kindness and support! It means everything to these girls… and to TemboHeart.Photos:
1- Dr. Frederick uses the Days for Girls educational materials as she talks with the participants.
2- The doctor uses a hands-on teaching approach where she calls on a few different girls to demonstrate the new information.
3- She also asks a lot of questions to get the girls, who can be very shy, involved in the meeting.
4- One of my favorite sights — girls with their new kits!
5, 6- While the school is in a gorgeous setting, it’s very remote!
10 reasons to use Handmade Soap!
Period Poverty in Tanzania
This is a very thorough article by CNN on the need to address menstrual hygiene in Tanzania. The timing is impeccable as we just launched our Days for Girls enterprise. In the west we are fighting tampon tax, here we are simply fighting for access to menstrual health products.
A package of pads (8pads) costs $1 or more. Many families only have $1 per day or less, and may have 4-5 menstruating women in the family. Food, rent, water, power, school fees, medical bills, a lot of items are higher on the priority list.
Postpartum Pads & FAME Africa
Menstrual Health Kits going to Osotwa Primary, Ngorongoro!
So pleased to have our first order of Moskito Pads heading to a group of Maasai girls at Osotwa Primary School at Endulen, Ngorongoro. These are deluxe kits with underwear, soap, transport bag, ziplock wash bag, drawstring backpack, washcloth, 2 pantyliner, 6 everyday pads, and 2 overnight pads.
Thank you to TemboHeart for making this happen! They have been providing pad kits to women and children in Ngorongoro for 5 years!
Teaching women to make their own washable menstrual pads!
In August 2020 2 of our amazing tailors headed to Simanjiro District to teach the women there to make their own menstrual pads. The feedback was amazing and they really like the “Overnight” pads as they felt there would be NO risk of leaking through to their clothes. This was such a gift for our team as well as for the Maasai women of Simanjiro. We are grateful to have worked with Red Cross Tanzania on this project and look forward to their next group of trainees!
Pads for The MaaSae Girls Lutheran Secondary School
So pleased that we could produce 350 pads kits for MaaSae Girls Secondary School!
Postpartum pads & FAME Africa
Over the years, Days for Girls has learned that our DfG Heavy Flow Kit works not only to help women and girls manage their menstruation, but is also a wonderful answer to help women also manage the bleeding they have after childbirth (lochia) that can be very heavy and generally lasts about six weeks and sometimes even longer.
Knowing this sparked an idea with one of our amazing supporters and volunteers, Alexa Renehan. She also supports the work of the rural hospital, FAME Africa, that is located on a hilltop in northern Tanzania. Alexa knew they were just opening up a maternal care center there and thought the new mothers could benefit from a DfG washable pad.
She introduced the DfG Africa team to the FAME Staff who were excited to learn about our DfG Heavy Flow Kits. A partnership was formed and a local enterprise in Tanzania was started to make the DfG pads that are sold to FAME for them to share with new mothers after their deliveries. With limited access to maternal care, Tanzania has an estimated maternal mortality ratio of 556 per 100,000 live births and perinatal deaths continue to comprise a significant portion of under-five deaths. This highlights the importance of responding early in pregnancy and continuing to follow up afterwards to potential issues that arise. The subject of postpartum bleeding is not widely discussed so adding this into their discharge program has made a big impact.
“Women in Tanzania complain of getting rashes, vaginal infections, and UTI’s from the low quality disposables available here. Wearing these irritating disposables for 6 weeks straight while healing and caring for a new baby has the potential to create undue stress and discomfort. I am so proud we are able to offer this option to the mothers in our area.”
-Leesha, FAME clinical educator for maternal health | midwife| DfG Enterprise Leader
In April, Alexa, traveled to South Africa and Tanzania with Days for Girls team members to see this new partnership. While visiting FAME in Tanzania, she met with new mothers and learned how life changing and affirming it is for new mothers, like Editha (above) to have the proper care before,during AND after birth.
This year, FAME will expand its work with maternal and child health by opening a 24-bed Maternity Center with a Level 2 Nursery, operating room, and 4 delivery rooms to accommodate the increasing number of women who now come from outside their district of Karatu, Tanzania.
About FAME Africa and DfG’s Partnership:
The Foundation for African Medicine and Education (FAME) was founded in 2002 by Dr. Frank Artress and Susan Gustafson. The Foundation’s mission is to provide quality healthcare and education to severely under-resourced populations in rural Tanzania. Days for Girls began a joint partnership with FAME in 2018 to supply DfG Heavy Flow Kits and our Ambassador of Health (AWH) education to all postpartum mothers who delivered at FAME. Some of FAMES staff were trained to teach our DfG AWH curriculum to new moms so they know how to care for their DfG Kit. In addition, jobs were created in the community when a local enterprise was started. This enterprise, Boma Africa, not only sales their DfG Kits to FAME but also to other organizations and people in the area. To learn more about FAME, visit their website: fameafrica.org
MOSKITO 