Refugee Women Turn Papyrus and Sun Into Sanitary Pads

On the heels of Eric's discussion of sanitary pads and schoolchildren last week, thought I'd follow up with a story about where sanitary pads are genuinely benefiting women: in refugee camps.

For women living in refugee camps, an item as basic as a sanitary pad can be a luxury. Women often rely on cloth, which is difficult to keep clean, or toilet paper instead. But for tens of thousands of women living in a 209 sqkm refugee settlement in Kyaka, Uganda, this is no longer the case, now that Moses Kizza Musaazi (a professor at Makerere University) has designed a project to transform papyrus and waste paper into sanitary pads -- making life easier for thousands of women and girls in the surrounding region.

Musaazi originally designed the pads for disadvantaged girls who were unable to purchase pads themselves. But these "Makapads" soon caught on and now the UN, in conjunction with GTZ, purchases the pads in bulk and distributes them in neighboring refugee camps (which house mostly Congolese refugees).

But the pads provide more than monthly convenience. Makapad employs dozens of people, most of them women, from the camps themselves. Lately, Ugandans living close to the settlements have also been angling for a piece of the Makapad pie (though as of yet, the company only employs refugees).

To make a Makapad, papyrus reeds are ground and combined into a pulp, which is then mixed with wastepaper pulp and hung out for a few hours on drying racks. Once dry, the paper is softened and cut to sanitary pad size, and a softer pulp is added. Once this smoother external pulp material has been added, the pad is sealed and sterilized.

This process yields about 3,000 packs of 10 pads per day. Though the UNHCR says that Makapads could be entirely locally produced, at present some of the materials are imported. The process is 100% fueled by solar energy, a fact that makes it more sustainable, if less reliable. Though Makapad's largest customer is the UN, they also distribute to local stores as a package of Makapads sells for about half as much as other sanitary pads on offer (about 50 cents per package).

Since the women making Makapad are creating products that they and other women in their communities will use, there is an incentive to cater the product to their specific needs and adjust it as they receive new feedback. One of the main flaws at the moment is that Makapads are too thin for women with very heavy flows, but Makapad employees are looking to develop pads especially for women with heavier menstrual cycles. Though not perfect, in a refugee camp context, a project that explicitly addresses the needs and quality of life of women is a rare and empowering thing, particularly when it is the women themselves who are spearheading the production. Due to overwhelmingly positive feedback, UNHCR is considering launching similar projects in other areas. Happy belated International Women's Day!

Photo Credit: TANAKA Juuyoh (田中十洋)