Local solution to period poverty in Kenya

In Kenya, where more than a third of the population live on less than US $1.90 a day, education is a golden opportunity for people to struggle out of poverty and into stable living standards. Poverty has real and devastating effects on access to quality education, especially for the girl child. A major obstacle keeping young girls out of schools is ‘Period Poverty’, the inability to pay regularly for the sanitary products needed when girls menstruate, leading to stigma, health risks and absenteeism or ultimately dropping out of school.

Poor girls, particularly those living in rural areas and urban slums, resort to using ineffective and unhygienic home-made alternatives and are forced to miss school while on their menses. Girls miss at least a week from school each month, or a total of two months in a complete academic year, because of their menses. It may be hard to imagine, but this is the reality many girls are faced with in developing African nations.

An organization for women with disabilities known as Tunaweza, Swahili for ‘we are able’, is making strides in solving this social problem in the coast of Kenya. Tunaweza advocates for the rights of women and people with disabilities, to empower them to overcome their limitations and become the productive members of society they are meant to be. Tunaweza designed an affordable, environmentally friendly, reusable sanitary pad using locally sourced materials such as kitenge and flannel. The organization has made and distributed reusable sanitary towels to hundreds of girls. With the generous help of philanthropists and sponsors, Tunaweza visits schools in rural Kenya to provide girls with menstrual hygiene packages and educate them on puberty, feminine hygiene and sexual gender based violence. This initiative not only improves girls’ school absenteeism, but supports women with disabilities to earn an income rather than rely on handouts. So far, Tunaweza has received positive feedback from the community and schools, as well as the young girls who can now stay in school throughout the year, despite monthly menses.

A visit to Tunaweza will enlighten you about challenges encountered by poor girls, and people with disabilities, and solutions the community can implement.

They can be reached at @tunawezawomen or m.me/tunawezawomen.