Project Empower Ghana's Girls
Donation protected
Summer Interns from Santa Clara University working for Bright Generation Community Foundation:
Education is a key component to the development of Ghana and its population. Millions of children attend school each day with the hope of furthering their education to define the course of their life later on. For many children this means hopes of eventually receiving a scholarship, advanced education, and/or a professional career. All of which, is only available through education. For many, this is their greatest chance of escaping poverty and the ills that accompany it.
Girls, however, are consistently put at a disadvantage because of their menstrual cycle, which can remove them from school for up to one week each month. OVER HALF OF GIRLS WHO STAY HOME FROM SCHOOL DO SO BECAUSE OF THEIR MENSTRUAL CYCLE. This amount of absences can be especially detrimental if it coincides with exams or important lectures. As these weeks build up over the year, those who are lacking access to feminine hygiene products often suffer lower grades and in some cases are even forced to drop out of school. Regardless of whether they stay at home or face the embarrassment of going to school while on their period, girls often use items like rags, leaves or bits of old mattresses to help with the bleeding. These can cause serious infections and other diseases.
The result is a generation of Ghanaian females who are without an education simply because they do not have the proper feminine hygiene products that would allow them to attend classes. This issue when addressed on the surface can explain why according to a 2012 FAO report only 29 percent of women are literate in rural areas compared to 52 percent of men. Education is the key to solving poverty, however for many women it is not feasible. Promoting female education is the best way to fix the pressing gender inequality issues within the country.
With help from the Bright Generation Community Foundation, we aim to provide sanitary pads to girls who cannot afford them. With access to cheap and environmentally friendly sanitary pads more young girls will have a better opportunity to excel and finish their studies. Furthermore, we plan on providing female health educators to every community where pads are distributed. The access to both the pads and hygiene knowledge will promote their education and ultimately get us one step closer to ending the cycle of poverty.
Our pilot school-based savings schemes will also assist girls in saving small amounts of money monthly in order to prepare for the upcoming year’s menstrual pads purchase. Unlike other projects that rely solely on funding from donors to implement their projects which leaves the project in limbo as donor funding dwindles, this project has been integrated with an income generating project through which we buy the menstrual pads for the girls. We have a committed leadership team with a strong appreciation of the issue at stake who will work with the distribution of the pads.
The cost of a year’s supply of feminine hygiene products for a single girl is 60 Ghana Cedis. With over 700 girls who are affected by this issue we will need to raise 42,000 Ghana Cedis or roughly $11,000 as a minimum.
With the monetary donations, we will purchase the sanitary pads for the use of underserved and vulnerable girls. With these products, girls will be able to continue schools and use their education to create new and better opportunities in their lives.
To accommodate those that are living in areas that are lacking access to a clean water supply, we are seeking partnership with these companies: Always, Kotex, Stayfree, BanaPads, Saathi Pads, and other companies that offer disposable products. We hope to have the funding to start this project by mid-July.
With access to disposable products those that are unable to wash and reuse the products will still be able to be to use the sanitary pad to limit their vulnerability.
Once we are able to acquire these feminine hygiene products they will be delivered to school girls so they may be able to continue their education and further their scholarship. Upon delivery those receiving the products will be educated about feminine hygiene. Through this empowerment and education women will be able to truly better their lives and create a difference in their communities.
THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!!!
Education is a key component to the development of Ghana and its population. Millions of children attend school each day with the hope of furthering their education to define the course of their life later on. For many children this means hopes of eventually receiving a scholarship, advanced education, and/or a professional career. All of which, is only available through education. For many, this is their greatest chance of escaping poverty and the ills that accompany it.
Girls, however, are consistently put at a disadvantage because of their menstrual cycle, which can remove them from school for up to one week each month. OVER HALF OF GIRLS WHO STAY HOME FROM SCHOOL DO SO BECAUSE OF THEIR MENSTRUAL CYCLE. This amount of absences can be especially detrimental if it coincides with exams or important lectures. As these weeks build up over the year, those who are lacking access to feminine hygiene products often suffer lower grades and in some cases are even forced to drop out of school. Regardless of whether they stay at home or face the embarrassment of going to school while on their period, girls often use items like rags, leaves or bits of old mattresses to help with the bleeding. These can cause serious infections and other diseases.
The result is a generation of Ghanaian females who are without an education simply because they do not have the proper feminine hygiene products that would allow them to attend classes. This issue when addressed on the surface can explain why according to a 2012 FAO report only 29 percent of women are literate in rural areas compared to 52 percent of men. Education is the key to solving poverty, however for many women it is not feasible. Promoting female education is the best way to fix the pressing gender inequality issues within the country.
With help from the Bright Generation Community Foundation, we aim to provide sanitary pads to girls who cannot afford them. With access to cheap and environmentally friendly sanitary pads more young girls will have a better opportunity to excel and finish their studies. Furthermore, we plan on providing female health educators to every community where pads are distributed. The access to both the pads and hygiene knowledge will promote their education and ultimately get us one step closer to ending the cycle of poverty.
Our pilot school-based savings schemes will also assist girls in saving small amounts of money monthly in order to prepare for the upcoming year’s menstrual pads purchase. Unlike other projects that rely solely on funding from donors to implement their projects which leaves the project in limbo as donor funding dwindles, this project has been integrated with an income generating project through which we buy the menstrual pads for the girls. We have a committed leadership team with a strong appreciation of the issue at stake who will work with the distribution of the pads.
The cost of a year’s supply of feminine hygiene products for a single girl is 60 Ghana Cedis. With over 700 girls who are affected by this issue we will need to raise 42,000 Ghana Cedis or roughly $11,000 as a minimum.
With the monetary donations, we will purchase the sanitary pads for the use of underserved and vulnerable girls. With these products, girls will be able to continue schools and use their education to create new and better opportunities in their lives.
To accommodate those that are living in areas that are lacking access to a clean water supply, we are seeking partnership with these companies: Always, Kotex, Stayfree, BanaPads, Saathi Pads, and other companies that offer disposable products. We hope to have the funding to start this project by mid-July.
With access to disposable products those that are unable to wash and reuse the products will still be able to be to use the sanitary pad to limit their vulnerability.
Once we are able to acquire these feminine hygiene products they will be delivered to school girls so they may be able to continue their education and further their scholarship. Upon delivery those receiving the products will be educated about feminine hygiene. Through this empowerment and education women will be able to truly better their lives and create a difference in their communities.
THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!!!
Organizer
Nick Redfield
Organizer
Redwood City, CA