Catholic Entity Launches “Gift” Initiative to Address Sanitation among Zimbabwean Women

Janet Nyamutenha, a 37-year-old mother of three is a beneficiary of the initiative. In the November 30 report, Ms. Nyamutenha narrates that she used to improvise sanitary products from old rags, which she used during her periods.

“As an unemployed woman working as a peasant farmer with only two hectares of land it is difficult to make ends meet. There is no way I can spend $2.00 USD each month on pads. I would rather buy cooking oil with the money I have,” Ms. Nyamutenha is quoted as saying.

She adds, “It is unthinkable to budget for sanitary items so I use old clothes during my period. At times the pieces of cloth I use destroy my clothes.”

The improvisation, Trócaire officials say, can “cause severe reproductive and urinary tract infections in women and girls.”

Trócaire reports that 80 percent of women within Ms. Nyamutenha’s area cannot afford sanitary pads and do not even prioritize them because of their unemployment state; the little they get is from their small-scale subsistence farming, which is channeled on food.

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Ms. Nyamutenha was also among the 1000 women who were given dignity kits containing sanitary pads, toothpaste, toothbrush, petroleum jelly and soap.

“I am really grateful to DOMCCP and Trócaire,” she is quoted as saying in the November 30 report, and adds, “This kind gesture allows us as women to restore our dignity.”

According to the leadership of Trócaire, the dignity kits are designed to go for a period of two months and this year, each woman has been given the kits three times, the report indicates.

“This women’s initiative has been supporting Government efforts in the fight to end period poverty in remote parts of Zimbabwe, with the aim of making Sexual Reproductive Health services accessible to all,” Trócaire officials say in the report.

Trócaire further reports that due to the high inflation index rate of Zimbabwe, the Southern African nation has “extremely” high prices of sanitary pads and struggling women cannot afford to buy the products.

According to SNV Netherlands Development Organization, 72 percent of menstruating schoolgirls in Zimbabwe do not use sanitary pads because they cannot afford them. 

The overseas development agency of the Catholic Bishops of Ireland takes the initiative of empowering the group and even considers it as a top priority.

The Catholic entity further reports that Zimbabwe continues to face severe water restrictions and 37 percent of households in rural areas still do not have toilets.

“Supporting women’s self-esteem and confidence in the countries where we work is a top priority for Trócaire and our partners,” the officials say, and add, “Safeguarding dignity amongst women and girls is vital for living through the most unimaginable humanitarian crisis.”