Launchpad

A majority of women in Sierra Leone don’t have a hygienic way of managing their period. Women may use five pairs of underwear, kitchen sponges, old cloth and other makeshift materials to manage their menstruation. Due to the unhygienic nature of these materials, women experience rashes, sores and bruising on the inside of their thighs. They’re also exposed to a variety of diseases every single month.

Beyond the hygiene issues, using cloth and other materials to manage your period is also embarrassing. Girls in developing countries will miss out on up to one week of school EVERY month because they’ve got their period. This usually results in them falling behind in class, and eventually dropping out. In many developing countries, menstruation equals inequality.

To address this issue, we’ve created LaunchPad : A social enterprise that sells low cost, eco-friendly sanitary pads to women and girls in Sierra Leone.

LAUNCHPAD WILL DELIVER AFFORDABLE, ECO-FRIENDLY SANITARY PADS TO WOMEN AND GIRLS IN SIERRA LEONE USING A NETWORK OF LOCAL FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS AND EXISTING HEALTH CARE NETWORKS.

We’re using an innnovative and sustainable business model to ensure that sanitary pads are available in hundreds of locations across Sierra Leone.

FROM THE WOMEN

We’ve surveyed 500 women and girls in rural Sierra Leone – and we recently conducted a trial program in 5 targeted communities.

This has given us a greater insight into the issues women and girls face when menstruating, and allowed us to work with the communities to design a solution that works for them.

Watch Mrs. Kormoma share about her experience as a woman in Sierra Leone, and hear feedback directly from the women who participated in our trial.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Instead of sanitary pads, why don’t you use tampons / diva cups / moon cups?
More than 90% of the women in Sierra Leone have undergone

Female Genital Cutting (FGC). This means that they find it incredibly painful to insert anything into their bodies. Additionally, virginity is valued very highly in Sierra Leone. Teenage girls would be unable to use tampons or cups for fear of ruining their future chance of marriage.

Instead of biodegrable pads, what about using reusable fabric pads?
We have conducted surveys with 500 women across 10 communities and LaunchPad was created in response to what the women told as they wanted. Many of the younger women disliked having contact with blood during their period – both the older and younger women find it embarrassing to have to wash their soiled cloth in public washing areas. There are often men and boys around which increases the level of shame the women feel when they are menstruating.

Because Sierra Leone is a developing country, they don’t have the same hygenic means of washing as we do. The washing is often done in open water sources (think lakes / large pools of water), and naturally, there is a lot of bacteria in this water. Once washed, the soiled cloth can’t be hung out in the sun to dry (due to the taboo around menstrual blood), therefore the cloth is dried indoors in very humid conditions. As a result, the material often doesn’t dry fully, and women are forced to wear damp cloth which is a breeding ground for diseases.

Because of this, we chose to use biodegradable sanitary pads which breakdown in drop toilets located in the community. The biodegradable sanitary pads are the most hygenic alternative, given the circumstances in which these women live.

Why are you asking the women to pay for the sanitary pads instead of giving them away for free?
Firstly, giving away products for free is not a sustainable means of operating a business. For decades, non-profit organisations have relied on external grants and fundraising as a means to support their projects. When funding dries up, so does the project. By charging for our product, we can ensure that LaunchPad will be around longer than the funders will.
Secondly, women in Sierra Leone don’t find hand-outs empowering. We’ve had women tell us directly “We don’t want free things, we want business. We’re business women, work with us.” Research has also shown that when people pay for a product, they are much more likely to use it – they’ve made a personal investment in it so they’ll put it to good use.

HOW YOU CAN HELP