A Female project on Worlds Woman and Girls Day 2010 in South Afrika

I just returned from South Africa where we started a new project: “Your Hygiene – Your Health” conducted by Samantha Harteveld one of MKI’s faculty members, through our Health Information Centres. Another project, run by four students from the Technical University (TU) Delft (NL), closely links to the MKI-project. The TU Delft project investigates possibilities to increase “the acceptance, the availability and the affordability of menstrual hygienic means for women and girls in developing countries”.

The students - Suze Gehem, Floor van Goudoever, Albertien Greijdanus and Judith van der Werf – are master students of Industrial Design at the TU Delft. They found this challenging development project for their ‘Integral Design Project’ thanks to the Vrouw &Verband Foundation (roughly translated: the Women & Bandage/ Connection Foundation). For years now this foundation, currently also involved in this project as subject matter expert, demands attention for and research problems that girls and women experience in regard of menstrual hygiene.

The current situation around this issue of menstrual hygiene is far from optimal. Due to a lack of knowledge woman also use unhygienic solutions to get them through their menstruation. Many times this leads to vaginal infections and inflammations, sometimes with death as a result. Furthermore, women are restricted in running their everyday life during their menstruation period.

The students are very motivated to deal with this menstruation problem in a social and economically durable manner. It will be investigated through education how girls and women can be made aware of this problem. At the same time the students will research how and in what form the girls and women can obtain affordable and available means for their hygienic care. A solution could be that the target group, aided by a simple machine and local materials, can manufacture those aids themselves.

Early March the four students accompanied me to Africa. They will spend two months in order to do extensive research in cooperation with the local population and through the Health Information Centres of the MKI.

It was truly beyond my expectation.

Pictures: the students and faculty member Samantha Harteveld are sharing some of their work with Dr. Jelle Braaksma, Medical Ambassador of MKI