Introducing Mary Aciga
Introducing Godfrey
The four-day RUMP (Re-Usable Menstrual Pads) training held in Matu in Northern Uganda finished on Thursday (15th March 2018) and has been hailed a huge success.
Lizzy Haggie who works with We See Hope alerted Caroline Lamb to this training in 2016. CRESS was then able to send Jessica and Jackie to complete RUMP teacher training with a We See Hope partner in Gulu . It has been Jessica that has successfully led the four-day training in Matu.
Funding was available for two hundred women to attend which also provided food during the four-days. In fact, three-hundred and fifty-four women turned up to register. CRESS is now working to raise the funds needed to facilitate this cutting-edge training a second time.
Impact
The RUMP training on the community has been so special and changed lives. It has had a positive impact on many lives and Edward Mika the Head of the CRESS Mijale Clinic shares the training benefits below.
- The women can make the pads themselves, providing a cheap solution for the women to manage their monthly cycles.
- It provides a safe, washable and long-lasting alternative to that which had been previously used e.g. rags.
- Participants who before purchased disposable pads can direct precious funds to other needs.
- Women can attend social gatherings without fear of abrupt menstruation or embarrassment.
- Improved understanding of the menstrual cycle reduces feelings of shame.
- Generally, the behaviour of the women has greatly changed positively.
CRESS is proud to have supported RUMP
The use of Re-Usable Menstrual Pads has been proved to reduce school drop out rates for girls. For this reason and the benefits shared by Edward, we must now raise funds to secure Jessica so she might continue this work under the CRESS name. This would allow us to provide training for the women who came to register and were unable to attend on this occasion.
If you would like to support this initiative please email caroline.lamb@cressuk.org or call 01722 780 789.