“Pants for Malawi” fundraising!

This week, Mrs Prestney delivered an assembly to the Sixth Form on the importance of increasing the discussion of periods in our community, and the need for an understanding of the concept of period poverty. In the UK, a staggering 85% of young people have tried to hide the fact that they’re on their period from those around them, and 1 in 5 avoid after-school activities, going to the gym, or visiting friends’ houses when they are on their period. These statistics from Always are shocking, but for lower income countries the story is, sadly, worse. One in 10 girls in Africa miss school because they don’t have access to menstrual products, or because there aren’t safe, private toilets at school.

In 2021 the Trinity Malawi Project managed to fund a new toilet block for Chipwepwete school, giving the students a safe, private sanitary block. This year, we’re looking at taking the next step, and aiming to minimise period poverty even further. Without access to sanitary items, many girls at Hope secondary school in Malawi miss school once a month, which has an enormous impact on both their education and the overall adult literacy rate amongst women in the area. Trinity is looking at providing girls at Hope with period pants, an environmentally and economically sustainable option.

Wuka period pants are pants that girls can wear through their period and, as they are washable, they are completely sustainable; once washed, they can then be used again for their next monthly cycle. Your money can make an enormous difference: £38 will buy a pack of 5 which, with washing at intervals, will accommodate a girl through her monthly cycle for the foreseeable future. Please consider donating to this very important cause through this JustGiving page.