Betty (Mama Shanna) is one of the women who recently took part in our washable sanitary pads training at the Dream Centre. She is so enthusiastic about her new knowledge and is really growing in her skills in making reusable pads and nappies. She is also encouraging her fellow women in the Katoogo Community Group (called Dream Women’s Development) to come for the training sessions about making pads so that they can add to their skills by working together. She says that she is making use of the pads that she made as a trial, and is encouraging the other women to use them too.

The group are starting to market some of their samples to women in the slum already, selling them at Shs 20,000 (about £4.50), and the nappies at Shs 10,000. Betty persuades potential buyers by telling them that the washable pads are cost effective as you can use them for up to six months, and that they are hygienic as you can wash them thoroughly, making them easy to use. The group are now also been getting money together to invest in the pads and nappies as a business – so far they have raised around Shs 100,000 in cash towards their goal.

Betty is dreaming big about the business and has been looking for and researching about new designs from other organisations. Her enthusiasm for the business venture is making other group members get passionate about them too! She just wants to keep learning more and more about washable pads all the time and is now being trained in marketing skills by her friends who attended the business training at Caring Hands.

“We want to make our business very large, and for our products to be known all over the world!”

Her journey continues as she will be training in pads and nappies at the Family Centre at the end of the month, passing on to the families there a new skill to earn money from. We know that her enthusiasm for the products will be infectious!