Sanitary Pads for Girls in Kenya

There are many challenges that our girls in Kenya face, including forced early marriage, sexual and gender-based violence, unplanned pregnancy, and female genital mutilation. NoChild becomes a preventive to some of these risks so that girls are able to focus on their education, which will help to stop the cycle of poverty. However, there are still challenges. Two out of every three girls in Kenya do not have access to menstrual products to manage their periods. As a result, girls use homemade materials which can be unsanitary, often leading to infections. Menstruation can also cause girls to stay home from school due to fear or shame. And sometimes, the lack of basic needs like a sanitary pad, leads to extremes in offering sexual relationships in exchange for the product. A recent study in Kenya showed that one in every ten girls has engaged in transactional sex in order to obtain pads. Newer laws in the country have enforced the government to provide pads for the students, with a portion of schools still being skipped over, but due to Covid-19 and the kids being back in their villages, and markets closed due to the lockdown, there is no access to these resources. Sanitary pads were shown in the same report to be the second biggest monthly cost for a family, after bread. We would love to raise enough donations to provide each girl who has her cycle with four packs of pads to get her through the rest of the year while she awaits getting back to school. Donations are welcomed in any increment and pads will be purchased in Kenya by our staff to distribute. 

 

Leader
Peg Ohman
Phone: 248-786-0644
Email: Peg.Ohman@kensingtonchurch.org

Recent Updates