Completion of the Cover Her Days Project

Working alongside Umuthu Plus, Think Malawi has funded a £4,000 menstrual hygiene management initiative in the Nkhotakota District, targeting Msenjere and Mdyankhanga rural primary schools from April 2024 to July 2025.

A standard 4 learner at Mdyakhanga Primary School, committing to always washing her hands with soap

The are 904 vulnerable adolescent girls in the two primary schools who directly benefited from this project ranging in ages from 10 to 18 with 20 of these being disabled as well. A further 320 girls and 360 boys have benefited from this project due to the improvements seen at the schools, which are described below.

Umuthu Plus carried out an investigation of the schools in 2024 which identified two major issues at the schools prompting the project:

• Firstly, the lack of safe facilities for girls to manage their menstrual hygiene at school

• Secondly, the unavailability sanitary products for the students.

During their review, Umuthu Plus found that Msenjere primary school had only 1 latrine and no changing rooms, while Mdyankhanga primary school had just 1 changing room. Moreover, neither had washing facilities for after using the toilets.

Original Changing Room at Mdyankhanga Primary School

In addition to the poor facilities, the majority of girls attending the schools struggle to access appropriate sanitary products. Most come from poverty-stricken households with the average household income in the Nkhotakota District being approximately $1 per day. Commercial sanitary packs containing eight pads cost $2.10, making them unaffordable to the majority of the girls in the area. As a result, most were often unable to afford modern sanitary products and resorted to using old rags (usually torn from cloth), leaves, or toilet paper, which were reused. In 2022 alone, 23 girls at the schools suffered from urinary and vaginal infections due to these unhygienic practices.

These issues had a detrimental impact on girls’ education and attendance. Umuthu Plus found that many girls missed an average of 3–7 school days each month due to menstruation. This was not only because of the lack of facilities and sanitary products, but also due to the shame and bullying they experienced from boys at school.

To address these challenges, Umuthu Plus collaborated with existing school structures, including School Management Committees (SMCs), Parents and Teachers Associations (PTAs), and Mother Groups (MGs), to improve hygiene and sanitation services and build knowledge around menstrual hygiene management.

Cover Her Days adopted a three-pronged approach to solve the issues at the schools:

1. Provision of sewing machines and materials (alongside training) and

2. Improvement of school facilities.

3. Introduction of health and sanitation training for both boys and girls.

In total, four sewing machines were provided to 16 women from the MGs across both schools (2 machines and 8 women per school). These women received materials and 12 weeks of training to produce affordable a reusable sanitary pads.

Member of the mother group practicing her tailoring skills after 4 weeks of being trained

During the six months of active project monitoring, the trained women produced 575 reusable sanitary pads, distributed to the girls who were direct beneficiaries. With 90% of the pads meeting the required quality standards, waste was minimal. Additionally, the women produced 10 school uniforms for girls who had previously been unable to afford them.

Girls receive their MGs produced reusable sanitary pads

To improve school facilities Umuthu Plus constructed 2 pit-style latrines (comprising four rooms each), 2 new changing rooms, and hand-washing stations equipped with taps and buckets at both schools. All of these amenities previously unavailable in a good standard at the schools.

These improvements allowed an average of 206 girls to use the changing rooms monthly, with 80% reporting improved menstrual hygiene management to the MGs and Umuthu Plus.

Finally, Umuthu Plus established student health clubs at both schools, delivering Health Education Sessions on menstrual hygiene, handwashing, and nutrition.

8 sessions were conducted, with a total of 362 students attending across all sessions. These sessions enabled significant learning among both boys and girls, helping to shift attitudes and improve awareness of menstrual hygiene and general health.

The newly constructed latrines at Mdyakhanga Primary School

Cover Her Days was an extremely successful project at Msenjere and Mdyankhanga primary schools, with over 1,800 individuals directly and indirectly impacted between April 2024 and July 2025. The impact was not only short-term, through educational sessions, but also long-term - through the provision of reusable sanitary pads, a sustainable production model, and new facilities enabling girls to manage their menstrual hygiene safely and with dignity.

Think Malawi will continue updating our readers on other similar projects throughout this year on this website, however, there are other ways to also stay updated through our social media such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and X or join our monthly newsletter.

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