2017 UAB Case Competition: Team 4 (Tied for 2nd Place)

1. Feminine Hygiene in the
Rukungiri District
of Uganda
World Wide Winners (Team 4):
Aseel Hajazin, Khushbu Khatri, Sophia Guan, Prajakta Kulkarni,
Niranjan Gowda

2. Rukungiri District
 In southwest Uganda
 Rural, about 589 square miles
 11 sub-counties, 77 parishes, and 825
villages
 Demographics
 306,700 inhabitants
 53% women
 Over 250 schools with girls
constituting 52% of the total
enrollment
 Vulnerabilities
 Lack of access to safe facilities
 Lack of feminine hygiene products

4. CLEAR:
Community
Leaders,
Empowerment,
Appropriate
Resources
Education
Economic
Solutions
Structural
Development
SEE CLEAR

5. Structural Developments - Problem
 63% of girls reported a lack of a private space to wash and change at school
 Lack of toilets and private space is associated with dropping-out from school
 School bathroom assessments in Rukungiri show lack of light, water and
cleanliness
Boosey, R., Prestwich, G., & Deave, T. (2014). Menstrual hygiene management amongst schoolgirls in the Rukungiri District
of Uganda and the impact of their education: A cross-sectional study. The Pan African Medical Journal,19.
doi:10.11604/pamj.2014.19.253.5313

6. Structural Development–
CLEAR Solution
 Biocomposting Dry Toilets
 Affordable water free toilet system
 $1,000/toilet
 Lasts for 25 years
 1 Toilet/30 Boys & Girls according to WHO
standards
 Uses air driven turbines
 Converts human feces to compost
 No obnoxious odors
 No effluent seepage into underground
water resources

7. Structural
Development–
CLEAR Solution
 Roof Catchments
 Rukungiri receives an
average rainfall ranging
between 700mm-
1200mm annually and
two rainy seasons
between February -
May and September -
November.
 Water Harvesting –
collecting rain water
using gutters made with
steel and PVC
 Water stored in
PVC tanks or
ferrocement tanks.

8. Education - Problem
 40% Drop-out rates from primary to secondary school
 Over 60% of young girls miss at least one day of school/month due to
feminine hygiene issues
 Coupled with the lack of facilities and education to manage their
menstruation, girls can miss 20% of their total school days
 Girls also experience stigma, guilt, and bullying from male peers
 This results in a large portion of the population remain uneducated
leading to may socioeconomic disadvantages
Mason, L., Nyothach, E., Alexander, K., Odhiambo, F.O., Eleveld, A., Vulule, J., Rheingans, R., . . .Phillips-Howard, P.A. (2013). ‘We keep it a secret so no one should know’ – A qualitative study to
explore young schoolgirls attitudes and experiences with menstruation in rural Western Kenya. PLoS ONE, 8(11), e79132. doi:0.1371/journal.pone.0079132
O’Connell, M.D., Forsynth, E., Steyaert, D., & Whelan, D. (2010). Reducing stigma and increasing school attendance through menstrual education. Retrieved from
http://94.199.243.84/designchallenge/uploads/Reducing_Stigma_and_Increasing_School_Attendance_Through_Menstruation_Education/8d10eb83e9489e08b9f4958a3a81d871itsallnatural_steyaert_i
adt.pdf.

9. Education in Schools –
CLEAR Solution
 Primary school Girls and Boys
 Age 7-14
 Pros of Educating boys
 Fostering comfortable environment
 Reduce bullying
 Start with
 176 primary schools
 76 private schools
 Coaching the Coach
 Health Education at Schools
 2 sessions/month
 "It's Natural" Approach
 Workshops – Proper use
 Kits and Incentives
 Pads
 Hand Soap
 Other

10. Community Education
& Engagement
 Each tribe in Uganda has a signature cultural
traditional dance, typically to tell stories
about tribal traditions, harvest, marriage,
romance and reproduction
 Through partnerships we can develop a dance
to tell a more accurate story of womanhood
 Health education workshops
 Start by engaging women’s groups in the
community
 Perform at churches, other cultural centers
 Furthermore, we’d engage in capacity
building activities with the community
 Teaching them the skills necessary for working
in the Macapads factory
 Other technical skills

11. Sanitary Pads - Problem
 60% of young girls do not have
access to feminine hygiene
products
 Girls resort to use old pieces of
cloth, cotton, bits of mattress,
paper, and even a combination
of mud, cow dung and leaves as
menstrual products
 Increases risk for urinary tract
infection
 Adverse effects on tract
infections

12. Economic Intervention
Partnership with Technology for Tomorrow to produce sanitary pads.
"Made for Africa By Africans"

13. Sanitary Pads – CLEAR Solution
Makapads
 Economical
 Disposable
 Endorsed by UNHCR
 95% Biodegradable
 Local Resources:
Recycled paper
Papyrus reeds

14. Benefits
 Availability and access
 Employment for local women
 Subsidized costs for locals

15. Evaluation and Monitoring
 Monitoring Processes
 Feedback from surveys
Satisfaction
Additional Needs
Comprehension
 Evaluating Results
 Retention Rate in
Schools– primary to
secondary transition
 Attendance rate at
community meetings

16. Timeline
Creating
relationships
(9 months)
Baseline
data
collection (3
months)
Pilot
interventions
(1 year)
Scaling of
interventions
(2 years)
Sustaining
interventions
(6 months)
End of
program
metrics
collection (6
months)
Pilot
Interventions
• Implement educational program and structural changes over a year in 5 Rukungiri
schools
• Startup of Macapads factory and ramping up of production
Full
Interventions
• Expand the educational, toilet and rainwater harvesting project to 100 schools
• Increase production, increase the number of outlets and increase distributions of
Macapads

17. Budget
Unit cost
Pilot period
units/cost
Scale up
units/cost
Total units Total cost
Support for advisory board $25,000
Ecosan Toilets $1,000.00 5 120 125 $125,000
Cubicles for privacy (per toilet) $100.00 5 120 125 $12,500
Rain water system $1,700.00 5 95 100 $170,000
Development of curriculum $300.00 $300
Teaching the teachers $1000 $9,500 $10,500
Kits - pads $1.00 7200 547200 583200 $583,200
Kits - other $75,000
Cultural programs $2,000 $8,000 $10,000
Macapads factory $50,000 $750,000 $800,000
Evaluations $250 $1,000 $1,250
Program staff $50,000
Contingency $137,150
Total $2,000,000

18. SEEing the
Vision
CLEAR:
Community
Leaders,
Empowerment,
Appropriate
Resources
Education
Economic
Solutions
Structural
Development

19. Thank you!
Any Questions?