Stop Period Poverty for Girls in Morocco

Hi Friends! We are sending gratitude to You, our supporters!

Your donation allows Project Soar to tackle period poverty and menstrual insecurity by distributing shame-free, eco-friendly period supplies to teen girls living in underserved rural areas throughout Morocco and providing them with menstrual awareness and education! It is also thanks to you that Soar Girls have access to a brighter future filled with opportunities! 

According to official data, 20% of the Moroccan population lives under the line of poverty, with less than 1$/day, and teen girls from low income communities have financial barriers to purchasing period supplies. As a result, girls often miss days of school each month, causing them to fall behind in their classes and sometimes even drop out of school altogether. Project Soar provides them with reusable menstrual kits that will take care of them for three years. As a result, girls are no longer forced to skip school because they are unable to buy pads. Additionally, we are also committed to tackle stigmas that surround menstruation in rural Morocco, through a comprehensive menstrual workshop that has been reviewed and approved by the UNFPA. Girls are encouraged to know and understand their bodies. Hundreds of girls are now more confident and aware of their bodies as well as their potential and power even during their period. Thank You!

“Before I learned how to manage my menstruation at Project Soar, my mom and I used to think that taking a shower during our menstruation was not healthy. When I learned that it is totally the opposite, I told my mom and encouraged her to tell other women, too, so they can know how to take care of their bodies properly.” - Khadija, 15 years old Soar Girl

It's a frequent misconception in Morocco to think that women shouldn't bathe or take a shower while they're menstruating. Not only is this false, but it has a negative impact on girls’ hygiene during their period. False myths like this one can compromise teen girls’ health!

Thank you again for your support. Period kits help keep girls stay in school, increase their confidence, and reduce the risk of child marriage and teen pregnancy! Never doubt you are making a difference!

Warmest wishes, 

Project Soar team

 Hello Friends,

As always, we are sending gratitude to you, our supporters! With your contribution to the GlobalGiving Stop Period Poverty project, Project Soar has provided 1,234 eco-friendly, shame free, hygienic period supplies to 617 Soar Girls across Morocco for the 2021/22 cohort. These girls now have the confidence to manage their menstruation and stay in school.

Teen girls in rural, underserved communities in Morocco struggle to access affordable menstrual products as they often live on less than $1/day and attend under-resourced schools with poor hygiene infrastructure. On top of these setbacks, misinformation of menstrual hygiene is rife, with stigma and misconceptions commonplace. This leaves marginalized girls lacking basic information about their normal bodily functions and a lack of tools to hygienically manage their menstruation.

It is in this environment the Project Soar empowerment curriculum acts as a changemaker, as Menstrual education forms part of the central empowerment module, Body. In this holistic module, Soar girls have the opportunity to learn about their monthly cycle and associated physical and mood changes, plus increase their awareness on mental health and puberty. This all endorses period positivity as girls have a safe space to share their experiences and learn healthy habits.

Accessing this menstrual education shows proven empowerment for Soar teen girls, as seen in this year’s impact data. We are delighted to see a vast improvement in girls’ understanding of their bodies and menstruation as a result of their learnings in the Body module. We found that upon completing the program, Soar girls increased understanding of their period and bodies, compared to the start of the program they were more likely to agree with the following statements: 

I know how to handle my period.

I know the names of my body parts, including those involved with menstruation.

I have the supplies I need to handle my period in a clean and healthy manner.

We are so proud of our Soar girls affirming these statements into their sense of self, and are able to take forward these learnings to lead healthy habits for life. This change in thinking is proudly seen by the girl’s mothers, as told by one mother in an interview:

"Before, she wouldn’t dare come to me to ask for money to buy pads. But now, she talks to me and comes to me and says 'mom, I got my period; I need money to buy pads and other [menstrual products]'." - Mother of a Soar Girl

With every step you take in supporting Soar girls learning about their bodies, you enable the stigma to be broken and girls to unleash newfound understanding of how to live in a Period Positive way! Never doubt the change you can create by supporting this impactful cause.

Warmest wishes,

The Project Soar Team

Links:

• Project Soar website

Dear Friends, 

Project Soar is sending gratitude to You, for your continued support. 

Did you know that May 28th is Menstrual Hygiene Day? This internationally recognized day was introduced in 2014 and celebrated for the first time in Morocco in 2021 through Project Soar's partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Morocco. This year on May 28th Menstrual Hygiene Day, the National Council for Human Rights (CNDH), the UNFPA Morocco and Project Soar organised a workshop under the theme: “Equality, right to sexual and reproductive health and well being of women and girls.” Mr. Mora, the UNFPA representative in Morocco, Amina Bouayach, CNDH president, and our very own Founder and Executive Director Maryam Montague discussed how our three organizations can work together to fully realize the rights of teen girls in Morocco, especially related to health services and menstrual hygiene management. The main objective of the workshop was to highlight the difficulties surrounding menstruation that undermine the rights of women and girls, especially the most marginalized ones that we serve through the Soar program.

Today, Morocco has 3 million teen girls and young women, more than half of whom have reported being shocked by the onset of their first menstrual period. But the lack of knowledge about menstrual health is not the only challenge teen girls are facing: it is the stigma and preconceived notions surrounding the issue that risk excluding girls from public spaces. Taboos and false beliefs create an environment where women and girls are deprived of a basic right: to ensure their hygiene and health. Infection risks become considerable. The lack of access to menstrual hygiene products and the absence of safe and private sanitation facilities in schools can lead the most vulnerable among these teen girls to drop out of school, putting them at risk of child marriage and early pregnancy.

Since the beginning of 2022, thanks to your support, we have provided 978 BeGirl Menstrual Kits to teen girls living in 21 disadvantaged communities across Morocco. In total, your support has allowed us to provide 3,162 period kits to 1,500+ girls since we launched this campaign in 2020. That is why we are raising our project goal to prepare for our next cohort of Soar Girls this fall. Living on less than $1/day on average, Soar Girls are not always able to afford menstrual products, which jeopardizes their attendance in school. Our solution provides period-positive menstrual education and 2 kits per girl that aid menstrual management worry-free for up to 3 years.

Thank you for your continued commitment to helping fight period poverty one menstrual kit at a time!

Sincerely,

The Project Soar Team

Hello Friends,

As always, we are sending gratitude to you, our supporters! With your contribution to the GlobalGiving Stop Period Poverty project, Project Soar can provide eco-friendly, shame free, hygenic period supplies to Soar Girls across Morocco. We are excited to report that Project Soar has provided more than 650 Girls so far this year with period supplies that help them gain confidence and stay in school.

While the Project Soar in a Box program works to empower teen girls through Empowerment Workshops covering their Value, Voice, Body, Rights, and Path, a crucial piece of this empowerment is ensuring that every Soar Girl is knowledgeable about her menstrual cycle and is able to manage her menstruation effectively. In line with this goal, the Project Soar in a Box Empowerment Curriculum contains the Body Module, including six Empowerment Workshops covering topics such as physical health, mental health, puberty, and period positivity. We are pleased to say that we have seen a huge improvement with this years' Soar Girls in relation to knowledge on their bodies as a result of these workshops. According to data collected, prior to the start of the Body Module, 92.8% of Soar Girls had a "Moderate" or lower understanding of their bodies. However after completion of the Body Module, 98.18% of these same Soar Girls reported a "High" to "Very High" level of understanding of their bodies.

Soar Girl Hind told Project Soar of her new found period positivity: "Before [the Body Module], I had this negative idea that I, as a girl, was deficient, as this is what society says. But after finishing [the Body Module], I learned that girls are beautiful and we deserve everything that is beautiful. More than that, I learned my body is a gift and I should work to always take care of it." Furthermore, Soar Girl Alham talked about the more practical impact the Body Module made on her life, letting us know that she now has "less stress during her period," and she now "feels clean during her period because of the Be Girl [period underwear]" Project Soar provides. 

We want to thank you for helping Project Soar Girls to gain access to the supplies and knowledge they need to overcome period poverty and its various negative side effects. By supporting this campaign you are helping girls overcome these challenges. Never doubt you are making a difference!

Warmest wishes,

The Project Soar Team

Hello Friends!

As always, we are sending gratitude to you, our supporters!

We are very excited for a new year of our signature Empowerment Program, Project Soar in a Box, to be underway at our sites across Morocco. One of the aims of this program is to ensure that every Project Soar Girl is knowledgeable about her menstrual cycle and able to manage her menstruation effectively. In line with this goal, the Project Soar in a Box Empowerment Curriculum contains a module focused on the body, including a workshop focused exclusively on menstrual health. Additionally, each squad of girls receives a supply of sustainable, reusable BeGirl period underwear. The workshops, paired with these supplies, provide Project Soar Girls with the knowledge and tools necessary for them to become confident in their control over their menstruation. 

Thanks to the generous contributions of donors like you who support our GlobalGiving Period Poverty Campaign, our team has sent over 1,100 pairs of BeGirl period underwear to sites across Morocco in time for the start of the 2021/2022 Program year. 

Project Soar strives to make sure that no Girl’s wellbeing, physical or mental, or access to education is compromised by a lack of knowledge on menstruation or lack of supplies to manage her period with confidence. We believe that period poverty should never stand in the way of a girl carrying out her daily life and we love that BeGirl period underwear is eco-friendly and shame-free. 

At Project Soar, these ideals have been translated into concrete change. This can be seen in the data collected both before and after the program through our baseline and endline surveys. Based on these surveys, upon completion of the program:

• over 95% of Girls feel that they have the supplies they need to handle their periods in a clean and healthy manner, an increase of 26% and;
• over 96% of Girls feel that they know how to handle their period when it comes, an increase of 30%. 

This demonstrates how the Project Soar solution truly has an impact on countering period poverty and increasing girls’ confidence.  

We want to thank you for enabling a new cohort of Project Soar Girls to gain access to the supplies they need to overcome period poverty and its various negative side effects. Period poverty can affect girls’ access to education, mental wellbeing, and risks of child marriage and early pregnancy. By supporting this campaign you are helping girls overcome these challenges. Never doubt you are making a difference!

Warmest wishes,

The Project Soar Team