Gender Equality Kenya Project #50928

Invest in Menstrual Health for girls and women

by Brighter Communities Worldwide

Project Report | Jan 12, 2023
Safeguarding the future for girls and women

By Rose Hennessy | Brighter Communities Worldwide

Raising awareness about FGM Abandonment (Dec 2022)

Thank you so much for your support of this project. This report focuses on a specific threat to girls and women that your donations are helping to address.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased pressure on health systems, school closures, rising poverty levels and loss of income which is having a greater impact on girls and women. They are more vulnerable to dropping out of school, taking on the role of care giver in the home, subjected to early marriage, gender based violence, teenage pregnancy. Your donation to this project helps to protect them and safeguard their futures so they will complete their education and have the knowledge and confidence that leads to independence.

One key area of this project investing in girls and women is supporting our Female Genital Mutilation (FGM/C) Abandonment programme. Cases of FGM are on the increase during this pandemic because with the rise in numbers of early marriages, in many cases FGM is a requirement of these arranged marriages. Our programme encourages the abandonment of this practice providing a safer, culturally appropriate alternative – the Alternative Rite of Passage (ARP).

During 2022, 94 five day ARP courses were held in March, April and December leading to graduation for 4,859 girls across the county. A lot of work was done ahead of these courses. Volunteers in the community train as facilitators and advocates for the programme. Areas of the county are identified as ‘hot spots’ and 181 days of sensitisation and mobilisation took place during the year engaging 11,887 people to generate awareness, knowledge and discussion about FGM/C and encourage communities to abandon the practice. New facilitators are trained each year to support the programme. They learn facilitation skills and methodologies, how to advocate for the elimination of FGM/C and the content of the ARP course. During the year 3 new facilitator trainings were completed with 67 participants.

These volunteers work together to plan and promote the ARP courses in their communities. The content of the five days includes learning about sexual and reproductive health, relationships, traditional culture, health care and disease prevention, economic empowerment, healthy homesteads, values and ethics and self-esteem.

The families of the girls and members of their community have an important role to play and at the end of the week graduation ceremonies take place attended by the community. The girls share their experience through songs, poems, dance and speeches and each girls receives a certificate and a t-shirt. For the community, the graduation is a public affirmation that this community says No to FGM. Power brokers such as village elders and community leaders are involved visiting the courses as they take place and then attending the graduation. All of this contributes to the success of the course and a change in attitude and practices in the community.

Next month, the facilitators will meet to review the courses held in 2022 and plan for the year ahead. February 6th is a big day in the calendar as it is the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM. This is an annual awareness day as part of the United Nation's efforts to eradicate FGM. You can help raise awareness yourself just by sharing this report with your circles and tell them why you support this project. Thank you for your help in protecting and improving the lives and futures of girls and women across Kericho county.

ARP graduation at Simotwet (December 2022)

ARP procession against FGM (December 2022)

Girls preparing to present at their ARP graduation

ARP graduation at Tumaini-Subukia for 53 girls

Girls graduating with staff & facilitators

Permalink

Sep 14, 2022
#WeAreCommitted to Menstrual Health

By Rose Hennessy | Brighter Communities Worldwide

The Irish Ambassador to Kenya Ms Fionnuala Quinlan

Thank you for donating to this project supporting menstrual health for girls and women.

In our last report, we were mid-way through the month of May which finishes with International Menstrual Health Day on the 28th. During the month workshops were delivered across Kericho county by trained ambassadors for the programme. Since the start of the pandemic, 468 volunteers have trained as ambassadors and delivered workshops about sexual and reproductive health to 12,561 boys, girls, men and women in the community.

The workshops include sessions about – Growth and body changes – learning about puberty; Reproductive health – learning about the menstrual cycle, reproductive health systems and providing a safe space for participants to discuss related issues; Reusable sanitary kits – demonstration of reusable pads and how to make them using locally available materials; Challenges to menstrual health management – challenges facing girls and women include no access to sanitary pads or funds to purchase them, lack of emotional support and understanding, no access to water or soap, missing out on school and work every month and taboos within families and the communities around menstruation which cause further isolation and lack of support; Bracelet making - the menstruation bracelet is a global symbol for menstruation and a teaching tool with 28 sections made of beads or card to signify the menstrual cycle and Games and Sports are included as icebreakers and to highlight that periods shouldn’t hold back girls and women in what they can do during their periods once they have the knowledge and support to manage them.

These workshops help raise awareness about menstrual health and break down barriers so that periods move from being women’s business to community business.

At the end of May, Brighter Communities Worldwide were privileged to welcome the Irish Ambassador to Kenya, Ms Fionnuala Quinlan to Londiani to visit some of our projects. Her day finished with the participants at a celebration of Menstrual Hygiene Day in Chebwor Primary school. During the day between 250 and 300 people had taken part in workshops marking their commitment to making menstruation a normal fact of life by 2030.

If you would like to support this project again, this week your generosity can be stretch further as donations up to €50 will be matched at 50% by the GlobalGiving Little by Little campaign. The need is great and every single donation makes a difference. Thank you for your support.

Children entertaining at Menstrual Hygiene Day

Menstrual Hygiene Day

Welcoming Ambassador Fionnuala Quinlan

Menstrual Health bracelets - a global symbol

Workshop training spaces are all shapes and sizes

Permalink

May 16, 2022
Universal Passport to a positive future. Committed to providing 500 reusable sanitary kits.

By Jane Beare | Marketing Co Ordinator

Teaching from a Tapestry

Thank you for supporting our Invest In Women and Girls programme. Support women and you support a Community.

The month of May is key for this programme. Probably our busiest, most exciting, and emotional month. Brighter Communities Worldwide have been working on menstrual health since 2010. We are committed to the belief that menstruation is not just ' women's business' but 'community business'. It involves men, women, boys, and girls and includes information, infrastructure, and reusable sanitary kits.

The month of May sees a global acknowledgment on International Menstrual Hygiene Day, May 28th. Here in Kenya as we still await a comprehensive Covid-19 vaccination rollout (only 28% of adults in Kericho County are vaccinated) we have, for the third year, adapted our progamme to take this into account at social gatherings. So we run our programme throughout the month of May. Our trained Ambassadors are out in the Community, visiting over 22 different locations with a target to reach 500 people. Both men and women come from far and wide to attend, many walking long distances to attend.

Each day men and women will come together in their community to attend our workshops and discuss sexual and reproductive health. Our trained ambassadors deliver informative sessions, breaking down myths and taboos. Teaching using tapestries as usual presentation materials are rarely available. Tapestries are a visual tool that can be used over and over, are easily transportable, and don't require electricity.

Many girls do not have access to sanitary pads. They improvise using old clothes, blankets, or even sit on cardboard to absorb the flow. They stay at home during menstruation as a result they do not finish school, do not engage in employment, and suffer from low self-esteem. Girls are then more likely to marry young and are susceptible to FGM and teen pregnancy. Women are affected by the stigmatization and without education are limited.

So this month within our Community workshops we have been supplying reusable sanitary kits. A kit contains a waterproof liner, 2 heavy pads, 1 lighter pad ( made from old t-shirts), underwear, and soap for handwashing. Our Ambassadors teach how to make the pads from materials that are available to them, in this way a kit can be added to and can last a woman up to three years.

So for the month of May we continue our belief that no woman or girl should be left behind because they menstruate. A kit costs just €5 and will provide a passport to a brighter future and change a life forever.

A reusable Sanitary kit

MHD 28/05

Links:

https://www.globalgiving.org/microprojects/reusable-sanitary-kits-for-500-women-and-girls/

Permalink

‹ 1 2 3 4 ›

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.