Ashoka
This description of Moses Kizza Musaazi's work was prepared when Moses Kizza Musaazi was elected to the Ashoka Fellowship in 2009.
Introduction
Girls in East Africa who can’t afford sanitary products are forced to miss school and many end up dropping out altogether. Dr. Moses Musaazi is reducing the rate of absenteeism among school girls in poor urban and rural communities by increasing access to affordable sanitary pads. Working with engineering students in Kenya, Moses developed a way to manufacture sanitary pads locally and out of abundantly available natural materials. In addition to providing local employment and a local solution, he is effectively protecting young girls from indignity and social exclusion and helping them stay where they want to be: in school.