CATCHIES - ,,Catch up your School Days"
Rocking school, even during your period
It all started with a simple idea: girls should not be excluded from school just because they have their period. Together with our partners in Ethiopia, we developed CATCHIES – “Catch Up Your School Days”. The goal was to enable girls to sew their own reusable cloth pads, so they don’t miss school and can strengthen their self-confidence.
Before everything started, our focus was on fundraising: cupcake sales, charity dinners, talent shows, crowdfunding – all of this helped finance our projects.
After months of planning, the time finally came. We travelled to Addis Ababa, met our partner youth ambassadors and started our first workshops on menstruation and hygiene. A short trip further south, to Meki, we began sewing the Catchies and introduced fabric bags that allow the pads to be stored discreetly during school hours.
Many girls in the villages had very little information about their bodies and puberty. In the workshops, we talked openly about menstruation, hygiene and body awareness. Afterwards, each participant sewed her own Catchies – often using fabric from old T-shirts.
The impact was visible very quickly: girls were able to continue going to school, no longer missed classes because of their period and, in some places, even started producing Catchies independently.
We were supported by young people from the street children project PROCS in Addis Ababa. Together, strong friendships were formed that still exist today, and the project could be directly adapted to the needs of the girls on site.
Today, the Catchies project is implemented not only in Ethiopia, but also in Ghana, Malawi, Gambia and Tanzania. In many schools and girls’ homes, girls have learned how to sew their own reusable pads – and are now passing this knowledge on by themselves.
Watch more about Catchies:
Impressions
