SCAN 4 PADS

by

Nabuyuni Sankan | Jul 13, 2020 | in Women in technology challenge | Tech solutions for communities

State your goals

1. To provide sanitary towels at a subsidized rate to girls in rural Narok.


2. 
   

   To educate and empower girls and women in the community by teaching them Menstrual Health Management techniques which will help boost their self-confidence and gain new skills as they learn about their menstrual cycles. In addition, they will be trained on basic digital skills in the Microsoft Office Packages. 

   
   


3. 
   

   To involve the community by giving them an opportunity to adopt a saving culture and gain proficiency in using Fintech services (M-Pesa) through topping up accounts which in return enables the women and girls in the community to receive the pads.

   
   

What problems (particularly in value chain competitiveness and global disruption) are your community’s stakeholders facing due to the Covid-19 pandemic?

During these unprecedented times following the outbreak of a global pandemic, there has been a country lockdown in Kenya which has led to restricted movements and a high rate of job losses in both the formal and informal sectors. This has seen many businesses close down thus people living in poverty are not able to cope with the rising costs and increasing economic uncertainty. Needless to say, menstrual hygiene materials such as sanitary pads are no longer treated as a need but a luxury product. This situation continually threatens the rights of vulnerable people who menstruate leading to gender inequality and a looming humanitarian crisis which turns menses back to a time of deprivation and stigma that highlights period poverty.

With the schools closed and health services disrupted in the country, there has been a significant decrease in the level of access to Menstrual Health and Hygiene education and access to sanitary materials which fuels the practice of harmful traditions and beliefs by girls and women in the community. One of these beliefs is that women are considered to be impure hence should not touch themselves using water and they should avoid using the community toilets as it contaminates the shared water resources. Under the COVID-19 global pandemic, such beliefs and practices prevent them from protecting themselves and the community against the disease.

What minimum viable solution(s) are you proposing to address the challenge(s) in your community?

The provision of a platform that will facilitate the distribution of pads at a subsidized rate will help improve the access to sanitary materials at a rate lower than the retail price. This allows parents to give priority to the personal health and well-being of their children as they will be able to not only provide food and water for their families but also facilitate access to sanitary towels and subsequently, their daughters’ safety and comfort during their menses. 

The proposed Scan 4 Pads system is aimed at the provision of a cost-effective and sustainable approach that will seek to solve period poverty both in the present times and even post the global pandemic through the adoption of the spiral method approach which seeks out to predict the risks involved in the project and mitigate them in a timely fashion. This will shed light on possible problems that might arise such as lack of smart android mobile phones in the community to be able to scan the QR codes that may lead to the provision of mobile phones to allow continuity of the work.

This solution will be proposed to local sanitary pads manufacturers such as ZanaAfrica Foundation who are a Kenyan-based social impact business that seeks to expand access to high quality, low-cost feminine hygiene products under the brand name Nia for partnership engagements. Consequently, this will help young girls and women receive sanitary pads in large quantities and good quality as their packages contain 10 pieces from the usual 8 pieces per packet. This partnership will also be pivotal in the distribution of sanitary pads to rural communities in Narok, Kenya.

Other potential donors of the system will include UNICEF who will be approached to assist in getting cards that the QR codes will be printed on; this will contain each girl’s profile and the E-wallet account where the money will be topped up using M-Pesa services.

Target Audience

1. School going girls at Siyapei Primary school in rural Narok

2. Girls from around the community who will act as beneficiaries through the  local school as an area of distribution of the sanitary towels.

We aim to provide a solution using QR codes printed on cards.This cards will be issued to the girls by the administrator that will contain the details which makes them eligible to receive pads. Details include having fulfilled the percentage given by the sponsor to be topped up(in this situation we anticipate to have 15 ksh which covers 30% topped up by the girls parent/guardians and the remaining 70% fee will be topped up by the company supplying the sanitary towel.Security threats such as cards being stolen or a card getting lost will be mitigated on the phases on the risk analysis spiral to be cubed at the moment acting as a pending act to be solved in near future advancements.

Training sessions will be put in place to teach the parents on ways to top up the E-wallet accounts using the normal Kenyan M-Pesa services ,This will be essential as some of the parents might be illiterate on digital matters.through this measures are put in place that will focus on  the use of mobile phones which do not necessarily require internet services or (smart phones).The parents will only need to have a registered Sim Card with a Kenyan National Identity card to allow them to top up the accounts from the Scan 4 Pads system that contains the girls profiles.Saving on cost.

Share your story (your narrative)

Greetings,

My name is Nabuyuni Sankan, the Founder of the ‘upcoming’ Maisumata Community Program which in Maasai language means ‘ Let us study.’  I am also the Co-Founder of the Scan 4 Pads Project.  I am currently in my fourth year as a student at Strathmore University,  Kenya where I am undertaking a Bachelors in Business Information Technology specializing in Business Intelligence.

Maisumata Program was developed at the end of 2019 with the aim of providing children with digital skills, mentorship, and empowerment opportunities with the focus as girls, boys, and children living with disabilities who are in the puberty stage of development living in rural Narok, Kenya. This program contains specific activities for each gender customized to meet their needs.  It is worth noting that the Girl’s category was established as the most urgent following, I would like to highlight that of the girl’s category which birthed the idea to have them accessing pads at a rate lower than the normal retail market price hence coming up with a digital solution that allowed innovation within the community.

The idea was sparked from the continuous stories and experiences my Best friend and I have had during volunteering in Mentoring Camps organized by the Community Service Centre of Strathmore University. During these camps, we came to a speedy realization that the girls living in varying rural communities shared one thing in common: Most of them had no idea what menstrual health and hygiene meant and that they associated menses with sexual activities where most of the girls received sanitary pads and inner garments from motorcycle riders who in exchange requested for sex as payment because their parents are not able to afford these sanitary pads for them. We also noticed that the girls were painfully shy and were so ashamed of their menses that they preferred to stay away from school during these days to avoid stigmatization from the boys. Faced by these realities, my friend and I spurred into action and we founded the Scan 4 Pads project to resolve these issues. 

Having grown up in a Maasai community my aim is to provide confidence in relation to Menstrual health which seems to a taboo and a whole motion of stigmatization,During a current study by the Menstrual health Kenya, statics have been gathered to show that ¼ of girls do not associate menstruation with pregnancy and 45 percent of them are able to discuss the issue openly with their parents while that 65 percent of girls and women cannot afford pads and out of that it also shows that 2/3 of girls in rural areas receive sanitary towels from their sexual partners.

This highlights the levels of period poverty caused by lack of access to sanitary towels due to poor standards of living that leads to some of the girls not being able to afford pads. Although the government has put in measures to have free and subsidized pads distributed to schools, there are gaps that arise such as mischievous corruption and reselling of the pads which causes a defect to solve the problem.

Current distribution have been done across rural areas which involves using of lorries to deliver pads to chief offices or school storage facilities which are supervised by the headteachers .Although the process seeks out to deliver some of the schools do not have secure storage facilities and monitoring how the girls get the pads has been proven to be a challenge as there are no reports given.

The integration of the QR codes will facilitate the improvement of monitoring and accessing the Sanitary materials at a subsidized rate in the rural areas hence have an accountability of all girls facing period poverty to be able to access the pads and drive an improvement of school attendance which facilitate better performance for the girls.

With all solutions arises challenges, such as lack of enough funds to print out cards and mobile phones which will be provided to the administrator to be able to scan the pads.

Our call to action is to have our target audience who are the girls and the community together with potential investors involved to have pads provided to all the girls in the school without interference and consistently monitored to avoid loss and pads not being received in the schools and in the process have fun give back to my community and encourage young girls to have life beyond their norms and tradition.

Please provide any additional relevant information that you would like to share.

OUR DRIVE:

The project is geared towards furthering the SDG agenda with a special focus being on SDG 4: Quality Education. At Maisumata, we believe that addressing the menstrual health and hygiene challenges currently being experienced by the girls and offering training and support to both boys and girls through training on relevant skills such as digital literacy will help improve the quality of education in Narok county. Below is a detailed explanation of how our project contributes to the attainment of this goal. It factors in the relevant targets to the Program as set out by the UN and our contribution towards the same.

Target 4.4: Increase the number of people with relevant skills for financial success

UN definition: By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.

This will be attained through mentorship whereby parents within the community will be educated on ways to save up money using the E-wallet technique to top up the girls card to be eligible to receive pads.

The Masaai community is famous for the creation of beads and traditional accessories.The women create these products and sell them in the local market which will highlight ways to teach them how to save up money to keep increasing their business through local women saving groups hence leading them to continued growth and financial independence. 

One of this target’s success indicators includes the number of youth equipped with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills. Maisumata Program aims to have the students, including the boys in the schools, learning basic skills such as presentation using MS Office packages and tools involved in innovation thereby nurturing them from a young age, to be confident in knowing how to use technology in solving problems. This training will equip them with the relevant skills in navigating the era of technology that we are living in.

Target 4.5: Eliminate all discrimination in education

UN definition: By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations.

Maisumata program seeks to eliminate discrimination that is evident in the community especially in matters pertaining to Menstrual Health and Hygiene.Discrimination is manifested in high levels of stigmatisation of the young menstruating girls which often leads to them to miss school for an average of 4 days each month when they are experiencing their menses. Needless to say, their absence from school affects their academic performance hence a significant disparity in their completion and transition rates as compared to boys at the same educational level. 

Our goal at Maisumata is to improve the admission, completion and transition rate of primary school children (class 6-8) with the focus on girls whose transition rate to high school has been significantly lower as compared to their male counterparts for other reasons besides the school dropouts that include early marriages and the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) both of which are very prevalent in the Maasai community. Through the provision of sanitary towels, we will help resolve missed school days which often happens due to high levels of poverty facing the girls and their families.

In addition, through mentorship, the Maisumata Program will empower the girls with skills on building confidence and self-belief to help them appreciate their womanhood more. Also, the boys will also undergo mentorship on reproductive health to equip them with knowledge that will enable them to better support the girls as they undergo these significant changes during the adolescent stage.

Target 4.A: Build and upgrade inclusive and safe schools

UN definition: Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all.

Our program will seek to ensure the availability of single-sex basic sanitation facilities. This will be through advocacy for separate wash facilities for both boys and girls to factor in the availability of separate facilities that will provide for safety, comfort and privacy for the girls that will allow for them to change their sanitary pads effectively. This will be done in partnership with the Women Representative Office of the Narok County Government.

Your Final Proposal for challenge

yes