240 more girls have Wings Poa kits, taking our total to 880

This month we ran menstrual health and hygiene training at five partner schools in rural Kenya and gave Wings Poa reusable kits to 240 girls: 82 at Mbaani Comprehensive, 57 at Kiuanzukini Senior, 53 at Kithiiani Comprehensive, 37 at Kyeengai Comprehensive and 11 at King’atuani Comprehensive. The sessions covered managing periods, tracking a cycle and reproductive health, and the kits mean the girls have a supply that lasts rather than something to buy again every month.

Students in blue uniforms holding up bright pink bags in a classroom with yellow walls and wooden desks. That takes us to 880 girls holding a kit and 14 training sessions completed, with 1,195 girls reached through our menstrual health surveys across 19 schools.

The kits are sewn by 12 LitMoms, local women who earn from every batch. With schools on holiday they carried on making the drawstring bags and liners, but the waterproof PUL fabric we shipped in is running later than we have ever seen, and since it is an important part of the kit the rest cannot be finished without it. We spent Ksh 194,300 (about £1,130) this month: Ksh 158,800 to the LitMoms for production, Ksh 30,000 on staff time, Ksh 5,000 on transport to the schools and Ksh 500 on phone calls to coordinate with them.

A child in a dark navy school uniform holds a pink menstrual cup in front of a whiteboard displaying health and hygiene notes. At King’atuani we also spoke with parents about the reusable pads. One mother told us the kit would take a monthly cost off her hands: “I am so happy because I can now focus on getting money for food and paying my child’s school fees. I will not have to worry about buying sanitary pads for my daughter every month.” As soon as the PUL arrives the LitMoms will finish the remaining kits, ready to distribute when schools reopen.