By Ginger DeShaney | OVAAT Advisory Board Member
Thank you!
As One Village At A Time says goodbye to Kenya, we look back with fond memories and lessons learned. Our “Empower 200 Mothers and 1,000 Girls in Kenya” project helped girls and women get educated, gain self-confidence and a voice, and grow as women and community leaders. And we couldn’t have done it without you.
Adolescent girls in Western Kenya bear the burden of a number of challenges ranging from the HIV/AIDS epidemic and unsafe abortions to teenage pregnancies and early school dropout/poor attendance due to many factors, such as a lack of basic needs. These basic needs include something as simple as sanitary pads, which are too costly for these girls whose families live below a dollar a day.
Our reusable pads program has been one of our biggest successes. Before this program, girls missed a week of school each month because of their menses. But with the reusable towels, these girls are in school full time. In 2013, in just three schools -- Nina, Nangeni and Got Oyenga – 451 girls got sanitary towels.
The impact of the reusable sanitary towels program has been far-reaching. The girls experience:
Among our goals with this project was decreasing the dropout rate among girls. The girls have been doing very well and the dropout rate has decreased! And fewer girls are getting pregnant, thanks to the life skills sessions they attend every month that address reproductive health issues.
And to top everything off, in the year 2013, more girls than ever enrolled for the national exams.
This all bodes well for the future of this country.
As we say goodbye to Kenya, we are excited about future projects in Guyana. Please stay tuned to GlobalGiving as we will be posting a new project soon.
Thank you so much for your wonderful support and for helping and empowering so many women and girls in Kenya.
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