KENYA: Sustainable Menstrual Products for Girls

This is an ambitious undertaking but is a long-term solution (we hope!) to a large increase in the number of young girls getting pregnant during the pandemic (schools were completely shut down for a long time in Kenya) and thus dropping out of school. Girls have very little access to accurate information and few resources for obtaining menstrual products. Older, often uneducated, men prey on young girls, offering them the desired menstrual products in exchange for sexual favors. In many cases this leads to pregnancy in very young girls, girls dropping out of school, and these girls have few options for supporting their children.

The initiative would provide reusable menstrual products for 200 girls, ages 10-16. In cooperation with Days for Girls (www. daysforgirls.org), menstrual kits are made in Kenya at Hearts for Kenya in Oyugis, Kenya, out of Kenyan fabric and sewn by Kenyan women, thereby helping those women support their families too. Each girl would receive:

A SUPREME KIT ($10 USD each) which includes:

-2 shields

-8 liners

-2 panties

-1 pouch

-1 instruction sheet

-1 soap

-1 washcloth

-1 drawstring bag

From the Days for Girls website: "The Days for Girls (DfG) Pad is a washable, reusable, beautiful menstrual health product that’s built to last. Our patented design, which includes a protective shield and absorbent liner, is backed by the latest menstrual health research and a decade of feedback from women around the world. It is a truly sustainable solution that menstruators can count on month after month, for up to three years."

In addition, this project includes funding to send two certified employees of Days for Girls to Mfangano Island for two days of education for staff and students (10 and older), both boys and girls. Any additional funds raised will go toward including more schools in this program.