All over Africa, high school girls are staying at home for a week during their period every month due to a lack of feminine hygiene provisions.
Girls are falling behind boys in their education due to their regular absence and ultimately many drop out of school altogether.
Local women are making basic reusable pads, but not enough, and the girls need a discreet way to carry them to school.
A simple solution to this is to provide a small shoulder bag for each girl.

I have set myself a target of making 150 bags by May 2017 when I will be going out to Zambia with my bags and delivering them to the girls at Lusaka Secondary School.

- Each girl will need two bags as their mothers or carers tend to take them for their own use.

- This will help with their self confidence and mean they can complete their education.

In addition to making bags, I am looking to raise funds to provide the community with more sewing machines, so the women there can continue to make feminine hygiene pads as this is obviously an ongoing situation.

So far I have made 67 bags and they take me just under 2 hours to make. A bag costs approximately £8 in fabric to make.

Please can you help me with this hugely worthwhile cause?
Jo Hughes-Chamberlain