Sustainable menstrual products for 230 girls
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- Relevant Data
- Region 🇰🇪 Kenya
- Sector 💊 Health
This project will provide 230 girls in Wamunyu with reusable sanitary pad kits.
Kenya Connect works with 50 primary and 12 secondary schools in the rural Mwala sub-county of Machakos to get students into schools and enrich the quality of the education they receive. They will oversee the kits' manufacture and distribution and provide menstrual education to the girls and the wider community.
Challenge
When girls lack period products, they miss 3-5 days of school per month. This means up to 65 days per year or nearly 20% of the school year lost to lack of access to period products.
Other issues they have noted include girls trading sex for period products (risking pregnancy and STIs), lack of suitable means to dispose of synthetic pads resulting in environmentally unfriendly options such as burning, burial or disposal in pit latrines, and a lack of robust menstrual education to empower girls to understand their bodies and their rights.
Solution
We will fund the provision of 230 Wings Poa reusable sanitary pad kits to 230 girls across 10 of Kenya Connect's partner schools over 8 weeks. Kenya Connect will commission local women to create the kits using sewing machines that Kenya Connect provided to them in 2018 to kick-start sustainable sewing businesses.
Each girl will receive a kit that contains two Wings Poa shields, ten flannel liners, two pairs of panties, a drawstring bag to carry the materials, and instructions in Kiswahili and English on how to use and care for the kit. Kenya Connect estimates that these kits will last the girls for a year, on average.
Three Kenya Connect team members - Margaret Mutune, Ether Muinde and Monicah Kyalo - will also deliver menstrual health education to girls, boys, and parents within the community to get their buy-in for the Wings Poa program and help them to become better advocates for their girls. The hope is to empower the entire community to provide a safe and supportive environment for growing girls.
Impact
Since Kenya Connect started providing Wings Poa kits two years ago, girls no longer miss school during their periods. Girls and their communities also have a better understanding of menstruation, which has been slowly breaking down the stigma around menstruation. This project is an investment into these girls' future success while also supporting the locally-owned supply chain that manufactures the kits. Kenya Connect will conduct follow-up surveys with the girls to gather feedback on the product, improve their program, and ensure continued success.
Updates
From the field
Following up on the girls in Wamunyu.
Posted 13 Aug 2021
Kenya Connect, our partners on the ground, have conducted a three-month check-in with the girls who received reusable sanitary pad kits.
Overall, they are observing that girls and their families have reduced their household costs as they are no longer having to purchase disposable pads. Girls are also staying in school and staying healthier as they have a safe and sanitary option for their periods.
The Wings Poa reusable pads project is complete!
Posted 15 Jun 2021
28 May is annual Menstrual Hygiene Day and was a very fitting day for our project in partnership with Kenya Connect to provide 230 girls with reusable sanitary pads kits to get completed.
The final 69 girls at Nyaani Secondary School received their kits. They also celebrated Menstrual Hygiene Day by reciting poems and raising awareness of menstrual hygiene and how women and girls are affected by inadequate provision.
45 girls at St Pius Kaitha Secondary School have received their Wings Poa kits
Posted 1 Jun 2021
Margaret and the team have completed distribution at St Pius Kaitha Secondary School. They just have one more distribution to do to complete this project!
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30 girls at Mwaasua Secondary School have received Wings Poa kits
Posted 30 May 2021
30 more girls have received kits in Wamunyu. The girls at Mwaasua Secondary School wanted to share the level of impact this will have on them. Many of their parents were not able to consistently afford period products. These girls will no longer miss school when they're on their period, which will have a big impact on their education!
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36 girls at Kitile Primary School have received their Wings Poa kits!
Posted 29 May 2021
Margaret and the team have distributed kits to 36 girls at Kitile, with the redesigned and newly branded Wings Poa kits.
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50 girls at Kikaso Primary School have received their Wings Poa kits
Posted 28 May 2021
The Kenya Connect team are distributing pads this week! 50 girls at Kikaso Primary School have received their kits.
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All 230 girls have been trained in menstrual health
Posted 26 May 2021
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Sewing of the menstrual kits is complete!
Posted 18 May 2021
Exciting news! The seamstresses in Kenya have completed sewing the 230 kits, which will be distributed to girls in a few days.
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Sewing will get completed this week
Posted 12 May 2021
The four seamstresses making the reusable pad kits have completed making 160 out of 230 kits. The image shows Elizabeth - one of the seamstresses - working on the shields.
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Meanwhile, schools in Wamunyu are reopening. Kenya Connect staff members will begin training the girls about menstrual hygiene and about the Wings Poa reusable pads over the next two weeks or so.
116 out of 230 Wings Poa kits have been made so far.
Posted 21 Apr 2021
Hey, villagers.
We have another great update from Kenya!
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Our project is helping a mother fund her daughter's university education
Posted 17 Apr 2021
Kenya Connect shared this message from Peninah, one of the seamstresses they have commissioned to sew the Wings Poa kits.
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This is an exciting example of the deep level of impact the Kwanda village makes possible.
Kit sewing in progress
Posted 16 Apr 2021
Hey, villagers.
We've received another update from Kenya. Making of the pads is underway and work is progressing well.Â
In this video you'll find Margaret, our project lead on the ground, giving us an update on how work on the project is progressing, and Peninah, one of the seamstresses, sewing the Wings Poa kits.Â
Funds received by Kenya Connect
Posted 14 Apr 2021
We're excited to be working on another project to provide reusable sanitary pads to young girls in Africa!
Kenya Connect, our partner on the ground, has confirmed that funds have arrived and seamstresses have begun the process of making the reusable pads.