Slum Girls: End Period Poverty in Nairobi slums!

Why Menstrual Hygiene Day matters

Every 28 May the United Nations calls the world to break a stubborn taboo: menstruation. For girls living in Nairobi’s slums the lack of pads, clean toilets and accurate information is not just uncomfortable – it pushes them out of class and, later, out of work. Without support a slumborn student misses an entire week of school every month, a gap that snowballs into poor grades and early dropout.

From Milan to Nairobi: one red thread

This year our team joined the Menstrual Cycle Festival in Milan with an interactive quiz that sparked honest conversations among men and women alike. At the same time more than 1,000 pupils from our Claires primary and secondary schools marched through the streets of Dandora to demand dignity and affordable pads for every girl. On 28 May the same slogan echoed in two continents: “Speak Loud & Clear about Period Poverty.”

What the quiz taught us

We collected responses from festival visitors, social followers and donors. Knowledge gaps are still striking:

• Only 33% could correctly define the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle.
• 44% underestimated how often a woman menstruates in her lifetime (the correct figure is ≈450 cycles).
• Fewer than 1respondent in5 knew that slum girls can lose 40+ school days each year because of their period.

These numbers remind us that awareness must travel together with pads and toilets.

Our response on the ground

• 5,000 reusable&disposable pad kits delivered to Korogocho, Dandora and Rombo (a Maasai village).
• Weekly reproductivehealth classes for grades 48, including boys, covering anatomy, consent and gender equality.
• Selfdefence and girls’ football sessions boosting confidence beyond the classroom.

Next steps – your role

In June we launch a campaign to keep the conversation going and fund another 8,000 kits before the end of 2025.
 US$80 equips one girl for a full year; US$600 funds a month of reproductivehealth workshops.

Thank you for standing with our girls and for helping us speak loud, clear and everywhere.