Cameroon: Organic sanitary napkins to fight against school dropouts

The company KmerPad produces washable and reusable sanitary napkins entirely made in Cameroon, and less expensive than disposables.

The creation of the company

In Africa, one in ten girls do not go to school during their menstruation (NGO Plan International). To cope with the desertion of the classes of young Cameroonians during their menstrual periods, Olivia Mvondo Boum II and her friends founded the joint initiative group (GIC) KmerPad in 2011, which manufactures and markets washable and reusable towels.

In 2014, KmerPad markets the first products under the FAM brand. Each kit is made up of three towels equipped with small buttons to attach them to the briefs, three inserts and a waterproof carrying bag. It costs 3,000 CFA francs (4,57 euros).

KmerPad today

Today KmerPad produces between 40 and 50 kits per day. Between 30,000 and 40,000 towels have been manufactured since 2014. They can be used for two years. Besides buttons and labels, everything is made in Cameroon.

After use, FAM towels should be soaked in clean, cold water and washed and dried. There are several colors of towels, with a preference for pink, green and red.

Here is an illustrative video of the activities of KmerPade illustrated by Olivia Mvondo Boum:

To visit the website: www.kmerpad.org

Source: www.lemonde.fr