Our new first year girls at the agricultural school the LAP are all coming from the rural villages and from poor parents. They need to have proper protection for their menstruation. In general, the girls do not have cash to buy disposable protections which are not adapted for a rural boarding school and not good for the environment. This project is to collect funds to provide all girls attending the LAP boarding school with a kit containing washable protection for menstruation.
Girls in rural areas in Burkina Faso are not informed about menstruation in general. They are often surprised when it arrives. In addition they do not have proper protection for these periods. The consequences are loss of self-esteem because of leakage for example, hygiene problems and missing school for lack of proper protection. A kit costs 15 $US.
Lectures will be given about sexual education to explain the process of menstruation. Also, kits of protection will be provided. These kits are washable and can be used for up to 3 years if well maintained. They are locally produced in Burkina Faso based on a design from the US association "Days for Girls". With these awareness meetings and the protection kits, girls at the LAP should not need lose their self-esteem, the hygiene problem will be solved and the girls will not have to miss school.
Girls from the LAP will be a relay of information towards their sisters and friends in the village. Thanks to the sexual awareness meeting we expect to have less teen pregnancies. This year there will be about 160 girls at the LAP from 12 villages. The secondary impact will be on around 1.000 girls. Other funding will be needed to provide the girls in the village with proper protection for their menstruation.
