Menstrual Hygiene Workshop
In the final academic term of 2019, we partnered with Madhvi Dalal of PadMad to carry out a unique Menstrual Hygiene Workshop. While in the past we have taken pride in educating girls about their bodies and keeping them in school by ensuring they have access to reusable sanitary pad kits, this workshop challenged us to think beyond… we invited the boys of Light of Hope School in Nyamasaria to join the Menstrual Hygiene workshop!
It started off in usual fashion with a short prayer and song (I’m happy today, so happy…). What we witnessed after that, was an educative session in which both boys and girls were able to openly learn, discuss and ask questions about menstrual health. This was done to create an atmosphere in which young students didn’t feel shy or alienated by the changes that they experienced in their bodies as a result of reaching puberty. The workshop also educated the students about the importance of protecting our environment by minimizing/eliminating use of disposable sanitary pads.
The workshop ended with a Yoga session for the boys while 44 girls received menstrual hygiene kits that will last them at least 5 years while they continue with their school life. With this, RKF now has over 200 girls under the Sanitary Pads Program!
One of the highlihgts of the workshop were the beautiful affirmations we all shared at the end: I am, I love myself, I am strong, I can give, I can receive, I can change. We honor the resilience of these incredible girls even in challenging conditions and we promise that Team RKF will continue to work to help these students blossom to their fullest potential.
End of 2019 Academic Year
As the academic year in Kenya has come to an end, we have had a chance to reflect on some of the achievements and milestones we have reached with your incredible support. We wanted to share some of our goals for the upcoming 2020 academic year with you:
Does this sound like something you would like to support? Giving Tuesday is one of the biggest days to support non-profits. This year, GlobalGiving is matching funds using an Incentive Fund of US$500,000. Save the date and support our projects on Tuesday, 3rd December 2019.
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Last month we carried out the annual July workshops during which we had the opportunity to go to St. Vitalis Nang’a Primary School and have a discussion with about 120 girls from Class 7 and 8 during the Menstrual Hygiene Workshop. We had a very personal and constructive chat involving a question and answer session where the girls expressed their challenges of going to school during their periods such as not having access to pads, enough underwear, pain relief medication or enough food during their periods.
We distributed 990 disposable pads that were donated by the Sisterhood Empowerment Group and 56 re-usable kits to the girls at the school ! More updates coming next month on re-usable kits, so stay tuned.
The responses we received from the students were astounding! One of the girls volunteered to provide a demonstration on how to use a disposable pad and another student elaborated on how to maintain the reusable pads such as washing them with cold water to prevent a stain forming and completely drying them out in the sun.
The second part of the workshop was the most exciting to the girls! We showed the movie Queen of Katwe to Classes 6, 7 and 8 using a projector onto a makeshift screen made out of a blackboard and white bed sheets. The movie is about a young Ugandan girl who fights her way to an international chess championship despite her financial circumstances. The movie was definitely well received by the girls; as the movie was playing the girls enthusiastically applauded every time Fiona (the star of the movie) won a chess match.
Towards the end of the workshop we had a chat with the girls on what they learnt from the movie. Some of the responses to the movie were: “Hard work always pays off,” “Don’t give up” and “I would like to start playing chess!”
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Earlier this May, we had the opportunity to welcome one of GlobalGiving's field travelers, Isabelle Hall, to our projects in various localities in Kisumu including Dunga, Kondele and Nyalenda. We had a great time showing her some of the work we have been able to achieve as a result of the incredible support we have received from all our donors on GlobalGiving, not to forget the amazing support we have had from the GlobalGiving team. Isabelle also helped us put some final touches to our recently completed library; we can’t wait to share an update with you in June on our Main Project Give Hope to Kisumu's Underprivileged Children.
This was a great opportunity for us to connect with GlobalGiving and receive feedback on our projects. As a result, RKF is now a Site Visit Verified Organization; another esteemed badge we are honored to hold.
We also attended the GlobalGiviing Partner Workshop held by Isabelle that allowed us to learn more about GlobalGiving and network with peers from Kisumu that are already on the platform.
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International Women's Day
On 8th March 2019, RKF participated in the International Women’s Day Campaign that was a part of the GlobalGiving GirlFund Campaign. And with your incredible support, we raised a total of $1,256 in less than 24 hours! We are absolutely overwhelmed and honored to be associated with such great cheerleaders for the girls of Kisumu. We can’t wait to take the RKF Sanitary Pads Program to even more girls and help them keep progressing through their education… as is their right!
Improving...
We’re listening to our community.
After our pilot program last year, we received feedback from the girls that a slightly larger kit would be more effective. We learnt that 4 pads were not enough; so we're partnering with PadMad to provide 7 pads to girls in rural schools. What makes this partnership special is that these pads are made using Kenyan cotton by Kenyan women. This creates a beautiful cycle of women empowering women!
When we spoke to the girls at Lutheran Special School in January, they gave us some very simple feedback to improve the program that is both efficient and cost-effective. They gave us a suggestion to provide a more complete “kit” by adding a small bucket and some clothes pegs (at an additional $1) that would make it incredibly easy for them to manage and maintain their re-usable kits. So we did it! All the girls at Lutheran Special School now have their own buckets and set of clothes pegs to manage their kits well.
Growing...
Another 20 girls at Busabakhwa Primary School are now a part of the RKF Sanitary Pads Program. Our friends at Kenyan Kids took 20 kits and had an incredible talk with the girls on Menstrual Health Management. An additional 11 girls at Lutheran Special School also received sanitary pad kits in March. We hope to reach an additional 50 girls in May once schools resume for the second academic term of 2019.
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To kick off the new academic year in Kenya, RKF implemented the Sanitary Pads Program at Lutheran Special School in Kisumu. As a part of this, 21 girls received the AFRIPads Deluxe Menstrual Kit that will last them 12 months and ensure they can carry on with their school activities even when they are menstruating. Each kit contains 4 re-usable sanitary pads, a small bag and a Girl Talk Booklet.
The Senior Teacher of the school conducted a fun, hands-on workshop in Luo (the local dialect) that gave the girls an opportunity to learn through demonstration and ask any questions they had.
The Sanitary Pads Program was started to address the issue of poor attendance of girl students across various parts of Kenya due to lack of access to menstrual hygiene products. When we first visited the students of Lutheran Special School in late 2016, we were made aware of this issue and we hope this program will help address it. We look forward to receiving feedback from the girls and improving the Sanitary Pads program and further implementing various other programs.
After the success of the pilot program last year, we are really excited to scale this program to reach at least 200 girls in the first academic term of 2019. More update coming soon.
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