For years, Moya has done our best to identify children & adolescents within our communities who are living without the most basic hygiene necessities. We try to create and maintain a sense of dignity for the most vulnerable youth by providing Dignity Packs. Receiving hygiene items give young beneficiaries, 70% of whom are girls, confidence to fulfill their potential, stay in school and continue working towards a bright future. This campaign will bring more structure to this project in 2020.
Since initiating a Peer Supporter program in 2014, training select students to identify peers who need support, the most common issue reported was that their peers, including many girls, did not have the basic necessities to have proper hygiene. Such items include sanitary pads, soap, deodorant, lotion, toothpaste, etc. This is a catalyst for truancy, drop-outs and bullying within our partner schools. Moya helps when we can to ease the issue, but there is a need to make this a stable project.
Moya has 8 partner primary/high schools with whom we collaborate and work with on a variety of projects and initiatives. Through Moya Peer Supporters, guidance teachers, and community caregivers, we are able to identify those most in need of Dignity Packs, which are also referred to as hygiene hampers. With proper funding, we can provide Dignity Packs to 120 students each month, keeping them in school, with dignity and high-self esteem, while also decreasing any spread of bacteria and illness.
This program differs from most of what we do at Moya- providing educational and emotional support, or motivating beneficiaries through capacity building. Yet, this issue is unique in that it is an immediate need, and the impact of providing Dignity Packs is too huge to turn a blind eye. Youth who receive these hygiene items will stay in school, and complete their education with pride and self-respect. Although we provide packs to both genders, we recognize the greater need of adolescent girls.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
