The sight of hundreds of Malawian schoolchildren surrounding her bus is a feeling Paige Hopper will never forget.
The public health student recently joined 14 other University of Lethbridge students in the southeast African country.
Along with offering education on diseases like malaria and HIV, the students handed out 5,000 mosquito nets.
The group also teamed up with the Days for Girls International charity to hand out much-needed personal products.
The team distributed 500 care kits that included reusable menstrual pads — something that, according to Hopper, is worth the same amount as a week’s supply of food for a small family.
“A pack of pads — I think there was eight or 10 of them — was about 780 kwacha. So it’s not accessible for them. They just can’t. It’s not feasible,” she said.
Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world.
The government’s statistics office claimed the entire population was considered poor in 2011.
The organization was set up so girls in countries like Malawi would have access to feminine hygiene products.
“In some orphanages, some girls might sit on a piece of cardboard until their period is done, and they’re not able to go to meals. In many countries, girls do not attend schools during their period,” said Lethbridge Team Leader Sharon Loewen.
This is the fifth time students from the university have made the trip to Malawi, but the first time they’ve teamed up with the organization.
We’re not just going to bring pads and give them to them and say, ‘Here you go,'” Hopper said. “We want to educate on how you get pregnant and sexual violence and any of those types of things that obviously we take for granted here in Canada.”
The trip has left a lasting imprint on Hopper, who is considering a career with Doctors Without Borders.
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