Empower Girls in Uganda with Menstrual Health

What an amazing West Africa celebration - thanks to you! On May 28th, Menstrual Hygiene Day, the West Africa Days for Girls team was able to host a week-long celebration. The festivities were kicked off by two distributions of 300 DFG Kits to schools in the greater Accra community. In the middle of the week, the office held a community stakeholder meeting with 120 area school, government, and local officials, the Ghana Health and Education service, traditional leaders, students, and parents. The collective events helped to solidify DFG Ghana’s commitment to work in this particular district.

 They also participated in their first ever national forum which was televised on menstrual hygiene in Ghana. Your contributions made it possible for Days for Girls to not only participate in the event, but have an instrumental role in the planning, coordination, and execution of the directives set forth by the event. We’re grateful for your donations that help to provide the leadership to ensure the menstrual hygiene agenda continues to climb up the list of priorities for government, civil society, and private sector interventions alike.

Other successful activities were possible because of your support was the ability to visit seven of our Enterprises in Ghana to support their operational needs and inspect for quality control. Based on these visits, the team is developing a program for an upcoming Regional Workshop in the fall which will largely be focused on strengthening their small businesses.The team was also able to host our Leadership Launchpad (Enterprise training) in office for two new Enterprises and conduct community assessments for an additional three potential expansion sites for DFG Enterprise operations. Stay tuned -- more exciting news to report in the coming months as we grow to reach Every Girl. Everywhere. Period. 

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We thank you for your support!

“I know no more fear and really I feel that in myself I have the passion of helping people based on what I have been learning.” Tuzo of Butembo, Democratic Republic of Congo reflected on her journey since launching her Days for Girls Enterprise more than 2 years ago.

Thanks to your generosity and support, Tuzo was able to attend the 2019 East Africa Workshop for DfG Enterprise Leaders this past March. This gathering brought together more than 100 East African women and men from around the region, who are working tirelessly to shatter stigmas for girls and women and create more equitable, healthy communities through their DfG Enterprises. And while our East African leaders were deep in discussion and learning, the Southern Africa leaders were gearing up for their second annual workshop that took place in April and brought together all 11 Southern African Enterprises. 

While a workshop might seem like a simple idea, we’ve seen firsthand how far reaching the impact can be. DfG Enterprise Leaders come from all walks of life – some never completed secondary school while others hold Masters degrees. Some leaders are experts in sewing, while others cultivate a passion for community outreach. The diversity of ages, religions, and languages is astounding. Yet in these workshops, we see all these individuals united by a deep commitment to creating change in their communities and fostering opportunities for girls and women. After learning about quality control measures, marketing strategies, record keeping, partnership development, and so many other topics, the Enterprise leaders go home inspired and ready to take action.

We want to thank YOU for taking action to support these leaders and the incredible work they’re doing day in and day out. But don’t just take it from me, Joyce our Enterprise leader from the Vihiga, Kenya Enterprise might have said it best: “I hope God richly blesses those that donated to make this possible. Usually for us, we pay for education. But here education is free.”