Reusable Sanitary Pads Donated To Refugees During MCO By Taylor’s Students
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When we talk about essential items, sanitary pads are those urgently needed things that no one really mentions. Every woman (that’s half the population!) has a pressing monthly need for these products.
Period poverty is also a very real thing, with some women unable to menstruate with dignity due to lack of access to clean and hygienic sanitary pads or other methods of keeping clean.
The LaunchPad Project by Taylor’s Hostel Management aims to end period poverty by providing the needy with reusable sanitary pads. Over 40 students from 12 different countries and three refugee seamstresses from Afghanistan worked together to produce over 500 reusable pads.
The initiative was conducted in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Rohingya Society of Malaysia, and Somali Refugee Community of Malaysia.
The need for sanitary pads is even greater during the MCO because we know that refugees don’t have enough money to stock up on pads and this is further exacerbated by the fact that they now cannot leave their homes and have lost their income.
Eudora Yap, student and member of LaunchPad project
The LaunchPad Project initially planned to make and distribute the pads in mid-April, but due to the pressing need during the MCO, it was decided that the project be expedited instead.
LaunchPad has distributed the reusable pads to 250 refugees living in Klang Valley via Pos Laju. Each recipient received two pads with care instructions to keep their pads clean and hygienic.
Although the reusable pads are currently not available for sale, members of the LaunchPad project, together with their partner Rohingya Women Development Network, hope to empower refugees to build their own social enterprise by making and selling their own products in the near future.
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Anne is an advocate of sustainable living and the circular economy, and has managed to mum-nag the team into using reusable containers to tapau food. She is also a proud parent of 4 cats and 1 rabbit.