Our reusable sanitary pad kit is designed to provide a girl with everything she needs to manage her menstruation for up to three years. All of our materials are locally sourced, and have been tested and approved by the Standards Association of Zimbabwe.
Every kit is hand sewn and assembled by our local sewing team at our studio in Chinhoyi. Each member of the team has refined their sewing skills through sewing lessons and opportunities to work with local professional seamstresses. Our team is dedicated to providing the highest quality sanitary ware possible, and creating a product that lasts.
The Restoration Hem Project partners with local schools, churches, and communities to distribute our reusable sanitary pad kits and present our feminine health and hygiene seminar. Our goal is to create an environment where girls feel free to learn and share about a topic which is often taboo and avoided in their culture.
Our distributions are run by our local team in Zimbabwe that have completed a training course on basic feminine health and hygiene practices as well as sexual reproductive health care. The seminar includes basic reproductive anatomy, information on puberty, an explanation of menstruation, proper feminine hygiene practices, and conversation about cultural practices and stigmas relating to menstruation. Extensive time is given for story telling and asking questions. We believe that equipping girls with the knowledge and tools to care for themselves is vital to their wellbeing.
Our team gives a demonstration on how to use, wash, and care for the reusable sanitary pad kits and then distributes a kit to each girl.
At each distribution we share a message of hope, reminding the girls that they are fearfully and wonderfully made. We want each girl to know that she is valuable and important, and her dreams are worth pursuing. Distributions are a time for sharing, empowering, and celebrating the beauty of each other and what we can achieve when we work together!
The Restoration Hem Project works in partnership with local schools, churches, and community leaders to distribute our reusable sanitary pad kit across Zimbabwe.
Eliminating stigmas and changing the narrative of menstruation involves the entire community, not just the women and girls. That’s why the men of The Restoration Hem Project meet with the boys at each school we visit to talk about sexual reproductive health, menstruation, cultural stigmas and taboos, and attitudes toward women and girls. Our goal is to give the next generation of men an understanding that menstruation is natural and not something to be mocked, stigmatized, or fearful of. We encourage the boys to recognize the value of the girls and women in their lives, and respect them as they would any male figure or peer. The boys are given a demonstration and explanation of the reusable sanitary pad kit, and they each receive a new pair of underwear of their own.
