Support 2000 Kenya school girls with reusable pads

Our girls in schools are progressing on well despite the challenging moments beginning of this year. It has been raining since April and slowly the situation is improving. As earlier reported, we managed to buy sanitary towels for 1 school in Isiolo (Kachiuru primary school) and 1 in Kajiado (Endonyio Sidai primary school). The sanitary towels were distributed to the school girls in the two schools and the girls were very happy and excited to have them. We also managed to support 2 secondary schools in Baringo in July 2019. It was our first time to distribute towels to secondary schools where we not only did the distribution but also conducted detailed trainings on sexuality, hygiene, reproduction health, family planning, early marriages among others. Baringo County is an area where girls are facing serious challenges where they are dropping out of schools as a result of early pregnancies and early marriages. One of the contributing factors to this is high poverty levels affecting most families in the region and providing sanitary towels to girls has been very challenging with parents not able to buy them for their girls where they end up falling into men’s traps of engaging into sexual activities so that they can be given some money. The teachers confirmed to us that just like in primary schools most girls fail to attend school during their periods as they feel that they are not safe depending on the type of materials they use as sanitary towels. Girls were very happy and they promised to work hard and avoid being absent from school. They also promised to avoid sex when they are still in school. We really encouraged them to concentrate on education at this point. The teachers appreciated the training provided to both boys and girls as well as the sanitary towels given to their girls. We are happy that through your kind support we have been able to support more girls and we are very grateful for your generosity. We still have a very long way to go as we have so many girls that are still in need of the sanitary towels and we request for more support. Thank you very much.

The year 2019 started well although with very many challenges.  It has been extremely dry in most parts of the country and many low earning families have really been struggling to make the ends meet.  Many parents have struggled to pay school fees for their children for the first term of the school calendar and providing other very basic needs for their children.  Due to prolonged drought in most parts of the country, source of income has really reduced as majority of low income earners depends on agricultural activities for survival and income generation.  We are optimistic the situation will improve soon as we expect rains.  Due to these challenges the number of needy people is unfortunately increasing and as a result we have received many requests to support school girls with reusable sanitary towels as their parents and guardians are not in a position to support their daughters due to limited resources.  We are happy to report that we managed to support 70 girls in Baringo schools with reusable sanitary towels in February 2019 and we have purchased more to be distributed in Isiolo and Kajiado when schools open for the 2^nd term in May 2019.  We hope to raise more funds to purchase more towels as we have so many requests to support vulnerable girls in various schools.  Although we have not promised anything, we are requesting our well-wishers and friends to consider contributing some money so that we can support our girls with reusable sanitary towels to keep them in schools. 

During monitoring and evaluation sessions we received positive feedback from beneficiaries and the school teachers.  It was reported that girls have really improved in performance and absenteeism has really reduced.  Our beneficiaries informed us that they feel confident with sanitary towels and they feel fully protected hence no reasons to be absent during their days.  They reported that the towels are comfortable and easy to clean ensuring that their personal hygiene is improving.  They appreciated the topics on adulthood, adolescents, hygiene etc that are conducted during distribution and monitoring sessions.  They expressed their gratitude to all friends and well-wishers for their support towards this project.  They are optimistic that many girls will benefit especially those who have not received any support and struggling to get the sanitary towels which is very challenging and risking their lives.  We call upon our friends and well-wishers to continue supporting this project.  Thank you all for your kind support and we still request for more support.