162 girls at three more schools now have kits, taking us to 640

This month we ran menstrual health and hygiene training at three schools in rural Kenya: Kyamwei, Kikulumi and Kyuluni Comprehensive Schools. The sessions covered managing periods, tracking a cycle and reproductive health, and we then gave reusable Wings Poa kits to 162 girls, 45 at Kyamwei, 58 at Kikulumi and 59 at Kyuluni, so they can stay in class during their periods.

We also ran menstrual health surveys at Mbaani and King’atuani Comprehensive Schools to understand what girls there are dealing with and work out where to go next. That takes us to nine training sessions completed and 19 schools surveyed, with 1,195 girls reached through the surveys and 640 now holding a kit. One of the girls at Kyuluni told us: “Before this training, I did not know how to count my cycles. My period could just come anytime and I had to go home to change. Now I am confident in tracking my cycle.”

The kits are sewn by 12 LitMoms, local women who earn from every batch while building their tailoring skills, and Ann, one of them, said the income helps her support her family’s daily needs. We spent Ksh 95,800 (around £560) this month: Ksh 72,800 to the LitMoms for production, Ksh 10,000 on staff time, Ksh 9,000 on transport to the schools, and the remaining Ksh 4,000 on monitoring and coordinating with schools by phone.

Inter-school games took up much of the term, which cut into the time we had for surveys, training and distribution, so we reached fewer schools and fewer girls than we had planned. With the August holiday approaching, we are sourcing more flannel and waterproof PUL fabric, keeping the LitMoms producing kits through the break, and finishing the distributions we still have outstanding before schools close.