MTN Foundation has donated reusable sanitary towels to Bududa secondary school, to help reduce the number of girl child school dropouts due to lack of these facilities. The donation is also meant to empower and facilitate quality education in Bududa and the rest of the Eastern region.
A survey conducted in 2004 found that “the biggest number of girl child school dropouts is because of inconveniences during their menstrual cycles.” Unsurprisingly, the survey further noted that absenteeism leads to poor academic performance and subsequent dropping out of school. It is estimated that 1 in 10 menstruating African girls, skip school four to five days in month or drop out completely. These findings are contained in a study report from St. Mark institute of Health Sciences.
MTN Foundation’s Chairman, George Egaddu said, “MTN is committed to promoting quality education and addressing the welfare of the girl child in all aspects of their health. We believe that our intervention with the sanitary towels will go a long way in alleviating the difficulties faced by girls while both in school and as they go about living their lives in general.”
These unique reusable sanitary towels are very affordable and reliable. Each sanitary towel can be used for twelve months and it only takes two hours for it to dry and can then reused. The sanitary towels are also leak proof because of the material they are made out of. These types of towel are very convenient for the girl child and we believe that they will go a long way in addressing the challenges faced by school girls and women in general.
Wakoba Davis the Deputy Head teacher of Bududa Secondary School said, “We are very grateful for this initiative by MTN. I strongly believe this is another strong intervention that will definitely assist in keeping the girl child in school.”
