Dagbamete Girls' and Womens' BFree Pilot

The short story: This is a fundraiser to help girls stay in school and to help women work outside their homes in Dagbamete, Ghana.

The barrier: Period poverty (see below for details).

The solution: BFree antibacterial menstrual cups https://bfreecup.com/

The ask: A $25 donation which will sponsor a woman for this pilot program.

The longer story:

In 2019, Toronto community theater group Bedford Park Players travelled with incredible director, Sarina Condello to the beautiful village of Dagbamete, Ghana.

We were there at the invitation of Dagbamete's elder, Kwasi Dunyo and the village's Queen Mother, Mama Adzorhlor III.

The purpose of our visit was to immerse ourselves in Ghanaian culture while working with local teachers and students to deliver arts programming with Sarina's special brand of enthusiasm and joy. It was truly life enhancing.

While there, we met the fabulous teacher, Alberta Klokpa, who had just started a Girls Club with the intention of increasing graduation rates from girls in the Village.

Alberta's tenacity and commitment to the girls of the Village has led to incredible outcomes, yet the persistent challenge faced is one we know we can overcome: period poverty. Girls and women don't have access to and/or funds to purchase sanitary products.

Through very good fortune, we met Leisa Hirtz, Toronto Founder of BFree, which manufactures the worlds first boil-free antibacterial menstrual cup. The BFree cup has been successfully introduced in several other African countries, including Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya, where they have radically changed the lives of girls and women.

A pilot in Dagbamete with BFree cups is planned for January 2024.

It's an incredible collaboration between Leisa, the Queen Mother, Alberta and our new friends Kayla and Elea Becker Lowe from Vermont (who just visited Dagbamete in October).

A donation of $25 will sponsor a girl or woman and support accompanying educational training as well as the research components. The research will be used to create documentation that shows the positive educational and economic outcomes for girls and women with access to menstrual products.

Our deadline is short—we are hoping to raise funds in the U.S. and Canada in time for Mama Adzorhlor to take the cups in her to the village on Dec. 17th. Our goal in Canada is to raise $5,000.

Please consider donating $25 by Dec. 15th, it will help change a girl's life for the better. One contributor said. “In these times, this is one thing I feel really good about doing that will make a significant difference.”

Thank you for reading!!

Suzanne