Puberty Education and Sanitary Kits for 350 Girls

Our Puberty Education program received a boost with the addition of Grown and Know books written by Marni Sommer and published in both English & Khmer.  The 24 page booklet is written specifically for boys OR girls and has been a hit with our teenagers.   Our Grades 6-9 students received the books and now knowingly understand their growing "pains".

Additionally, Days for Girls provided some of their sanitary pad kits.  We are having  our Cambodian ladies sew and assemble more kits. Aarthi Sekar from Global Ade is helping with the training and distribution of the kits.

Here is an interview with 15 year old girl called Riry.

The girl, Riry, shared that her and her group of friends each received a DFG kit. She is very fond of her kit because she does not need to pay money each month to buy sanitary pads. She said that the girls in her village usually need to buy the sanitary pads around the temple area where they are usually much more expensive than in shops at other locations (cost range: $2-$3 for a pack of 10 slim or 8 regular in Siem Reap town, Riry said near the temples this can jump to a $1 a pad). However, Riry also shared that several of her friends did not like the DFG kits because they felt it was a pain for them to wash the flannel liners.

When I asked Riry what the girls do when they neither have the money to buy disposable sanitary pads or have a DFG kit, she said that they rely on cloth/rags and then usually end up throwing it away into the surrounding fields. Riry then went on to complain that at times this action poses a biological hazard since the stray dogs sniff out and get into the rags in the fields. 

Thanks to generous donors who enable the sanitary kits to be distributed.

Our extensive 6 week Puberty Classes are under way. The boys and girls have separate instruction as Cambodia is still a very shy culture and not as open as other Western cultures.

We have added a section on Gender Equality and Roles as it is imprtant to learn that girls are equal in our society.

We distributed 25 Sanitary Kits to the girls class. The boy have been instructed on the working of their bodies and the hormonal changes. The most fun part of the class was learning how to put on a condome.  This is practised on a cucumber and always bring lots of smiles and nervous laughter.

We have teamed up with www.knowandgrow.org  and are distributing a 44 page booklet in both Khmer and English, which explains how ones body changes.

Thanks to our supporters who enable us to continue with teaching important knowlege in a young persons life.