Students grateful for college gift

A GROUP of Dundee students have donated hand-made reusable period pads for girls living in Kenya.

For the past year, Tatiana Zorina has been trying to tackle period poverty at Dundee and Angus College by running an anti-stigma campaign and teaching the students how to sew their own reusable period products.

The project has been so successful one group of students at the college decided to sew some for girls who usually go without in Siaya County in Kenya.

Now 20 female students at Balozi Computing Community College in the African country have received reusable pads from their counterparts in Tayside.

Tatiana said: “The students have really enjoyed the sewing lessons and the girls said they would love to help girls in other countries who have no access to period products.

“We got linked up with Balozi College in

Kenya and that was really good because we are also a community college.

“This will make a huge change to the girls there who can’t afford period products and perhaps miss one week every month of college, which also creates stigma and embarrassment.”

The Kenyan students were sent five reusable pads each from the girls in Dundee, along with a bar of soap to wash them with, a letter, something to store the products in and two bars of chocolate.

“This has been a huge thing for us to achieve and for the girls to want to support others they have never met in another country is amazing,” added Tatiana.

“We are very lucky to get support from the government for free period products but it doesn’t cost much to sew these pads ourselves.”

One of the students at Balozi College, Magdaline Akinyi, said: “I am very grateful for the reusable pads.

“They will enable me to save a lot because I’ll use one for nearly a year, compared to my friends who are using normal pads.”

Another student, Shebah Houlen, said: “I have been using disposable pads for a long time now but they are nothing compared to the reusable pads I was gifted.

“The disposable ones have drained my pockets and the irritation from them is horrific. The reusable pads last longer and are better for the environment.

“I will stick with reusable pads as they let me live my life as I would any other day of the month.”