Conversion of Banana Stems into Low Cost Sanitary Pads

Pad Heaven Initiative manufactures sanitary pads using banana and bamboo fibres.We aim to provide affordable sanitary pads, while reducing girl's absenteeism from school during their periods. Their technology converts the plant pulps to make pads that are hygienic, affordable and 95% bio-degradable.Statistics show that over 2.5 million schoolgirls coming from poor backgrounds cannot afford to buy commercial sanitary pads. This can be attributed to the high unemployment rate in Kenya, which currently stands at 40% with about 45.9% of the population living below the poverty line. An average packet containing 8 pads, which costs approximately US$1, is therefore significantly more than the daily income of many poor Kenyan parents. Women and girls end up using pieces of cloths and rags to contain their flow and this leads to infections which when goes untreated, is a health risk to their lives. Banana fibre is a great alternative to the wood pulp used to make commercial sanitary pads. It saves our forests and more over, provided farmers with a solution who find it hard to dispose banana stems after harvesting the bananas, as the stems take too long to decompose. The other advantage is that banana stems are widely and readily found. Infact, East Africa contributes to 20% of the worlds supply of banana, and that means that there is more than enough raw materials and the project can be replicated in neighbouring countries that are rich in bananas like Uganda and Tanzania.