Free health check-ups
The poverty cycle can be broken when girls stay in school. An innovative solution has proven to be key – sustainable menstrual hygiene she can count on. With it, she can avoid infection, shame, exploitation, early marriage, and even trafficking. Your support of this project provides girls quality washable sanitary pads and important reproductive health, hygiene, self-defense and sewing training. Girls, families and communities are empowered as leaders and sewing cooperatives gain income and skill.
Millions of impoverished girls face days with no access to safe feminine hygiene solutions. Girls turn to unsanitary methods of feminine hygiene including leaves, bark, newspapers, rocks and corn cobs, and in some cases allow themselves to be exploited out of desperation for supplies. According to the Ministry of Education for these African countries, the provision of safe feminine hygiene solutions directly decreases dropout rates for girls that have reached menstruation.
Girls will receive hygiene kits they can count on for 2 – 3 years. Women and girls learn to make kits via a network of volunteer Ambassadors of Women’s Health who distribute and provide health training, while also training local sewing cooperatives and schoolgirls to make kits themselves. In addition to the personal benefits of receiving a kit, the community economy is enriched as training, tools, and capital become dedicated to expanding access to feminine hygiene solutions.
Girls remain in school allowing them to have access to continuous education and sustainable solutions. This effects current and future generations of women and men, playing an imperative role in breaking the cycle of poverty. Communities are empowered to discuss and provide feminine hygiene, health and sanitation for themselves and others. One woman recently said, “It is as if it is taboo to be a woman.” This program changes that with simple, direct and effective solutions that empower.