By Mohamed Abdille | Program Officer
A pastoralist Somali girl has potential and envisions success but the challenges experienced in accessing Education limits her to achieve this success. These challenges are; Cultural issues of boys given preference than girls, early marriage, and lack of mentorship and financial constraints on buying menstrual pads among others that leads to high dropout rates in this community.
According to a research that was carried by PGI, on any given day around 60 girls have their periods which force them to miss classes or drop out all together because of lack of sanitary pads. Some girls used paper, clothes, tree leaves, and cow or goat skin to make crude pads, which did not work well.
A part from the personal injustice stemming from menstrual taboos and the larger issues of health and dignity, therefore Pastoralist Girls initiative with the support from Global Giving under send 200 girls to school have started issuing the pads to the girls under the project which has helped empower the community on the importance of sanitary towels to the school going girls. This has helped keep many girls in school during their periods. This project main goal is to ensure that we can support girls in school get retained, complete and transit with good performance to higher institutions of learning. The target group is the less fortunate girls who were identified by various stakeholders during the initiation of the project
Halima 17yrs appreciates the opportunity, as she knows that without a good education, her opportunities in life are limited. “She says despite enduring many hardships in her passion to get an education and to have bright future she says, “I love and enjoy going to school to get an education but I am sad that I missed many school days every month during my menstrual cycle”
Halima used to escape school to avoid being ashamed. “I fear people seeing me during that time and when it comes I just stay at home as other girls learn,” she says “there is nothing I can do because my mother can’t afford.” When I was identified as one of the beneficiaries for the school fees, books, uniforms and sanitary pad was very happy and could not believe how happy I was. She says. Having been brought up in a big family with limited resources to support my education my biggest fear was that, one day my family will take me out of school to either marry me off for financial gain or carryout chores at home. Hence that will mean I could no longer achieve my dream to become a doctor. But today I confidently say that I am more than ever motivated to achieve my dreams and the gratitude goes to Global giving well wishers and Pastoralist Girls Initiative for this opportunity. I humbly appreciate the assistance and will endeavor to work hard in my secondary education. ”
The project distributed 2400 pieces of sanitary pads and 200 dozens of pants to 200 benefices of the project. The Executive Director of the Pastoralist Girls Initiative said, “Getting an education here in Garissa, Kenya is very difficult, and it is sad when a young girl who is passionate can at times miss that because of sanitary towel”
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