5: Dream Team

Team Members: Aaliyah B., Aijalon G., Melanie L., Victoria O., Rebecca S., Tatianna V.

Impact Partner: Michelle Mclean Children Trust (Namibia)

The Challenge: The Dream Team aims to tackle the inadequate accessibility to menstrual products and feminine hygiene for young women in Namibian communities, empowering their fundamental right to health and education.

SDGs Addressed: (3) Good Health & Well-Being, (5) Gender Equality

The Solution: The "Dream Kit” is a compacted pouch equipped with sustainable menstrual products designed to meet feminine hygiene and menstruation needs. The affordable and eco-friendly tools allocated in this personal care product ignites confidence and creativity. The kit allows access to a new skill of creating reusable pads paired with an encouraging literacy piece, serving as a visual aid for young women to understand each product's process. Each kit brings additional items serving as accommodations to properly care for the needs for a woman's menstruation period, sealing the period poverty gap with no cost for the women in developing countries.

The Reason: Deprivation of affordable menstrual products and sanitization amongst women in Namibia is considered a societal norm. Unfortunately, this negatively impacts women's education via lack of attendance. Inadequate access to proper sanitary products causes a high risk of infections. As a team, the issue of gender inequality stood out to us. Low literacy levels among women are still an extensive concern, especially in developing countries, based on misogyny and the negative aura surrounding menstruation. We want to provide resources that educate and empower women to participate in everyday activities. With our REV Kits, we hope to combat societal stigmas surrounding menstruation.