FOHLC celebrates new partnership with Kat Nyajure, a model and charity patron of the 2016 Face of Kenya-USA Beauty Pageant — By James Waruiru (Acumen 2016 Fellow)
It was February 2016 when Kat’s telephone call came in. I remember it like it was yesterday; I was watching the English Soccer League at a neighborhood bar with my good friend from FOHLC volunteering, Maggie. To escape all of the noise of music and crazy revelers, I paced outside wary of goons who cared more for safe custody of my phone more than me. When I said ‘hello’ I heard a euphonious voice with an American accent from the other end saying, “Hello, My name is Kat.” and from there a conversation ensued.
After a brief explanation about how internet was instrumental in finding our project, I recall her assertive statement:”As I told you, my name is Kat, I am a Kenyan studying in USA. I am participating in the 2016 Face of Kenya-USA beauty pageant and I have chosen your sanitary pads program and an orphanage in Homabay as my favorite charities to benefit from the money I will raise from the pageant.”
This is one of the most awesome things I have heard in a long time! Not because of the donation offering to our project but the fact that someone has recognized our efforts of keeping needy young women in school during their menstrual periods. I also saw the possibility of a bigger long term partnership, a possibility that is now becoming reality from our communication. We have been talking more often and our relationship is fast growing from just project partners to friends who can hold each other’s hand to rise up. We are focusing on building a good team and expanding our reach one brick at a time to serve more needy girls all over Kenya, until the dream becomes a reality. Besides being angelic and cute, I have come to know Kat as a very warm and prayerful young woman who loves all people and her country a great deal. She is always ready to help even if only in a small way. She reminds me the words of Mother Theresa, ‘’we cannot do great things…just small things with great love’’.
Kat won 3nd place in the 2016 Face of Kenya –USA beauty pageant, and also raised over $1500 US that will benefit our sanitary towels program and an orphanage in Homabay, Kenya. Kat was also selected and named patron of the 2016 Face of Kenya-USA supported charities. At FOHLC we are celebrating Kat’s amazing achievements, and looking forward to hosting Kat in Kenya in August 2016. We are delighted that more needy girls will get menstrual supplies and reproductive health training, thanks to Kat and FOK-USA. However, what is most exciting, is the long term partnership in the making. For us to have Kat as our project’s ambassador in the USA is a real milestone and fantastic morale booster to our small team in Kenya.
We must also praise FOK-USA, one of the most unique beauty pageants I have known of. The purpose of FOK-USA is to show case Kenya to the world, unite Kenyans abroad and give them a platform through which they can give back to their motherland by donating funds and adapting charities that change lives in Kenya. Interestingly, this pageant brings Kenyans and friends of Kenya together, people from different tribes and races. Therefore promoting integration something badly needed in Kenya which was left polarized by the disputed 2007 general elections. This gives me a great feeling of patriotism seeing Kenyans from different communities uniting to do something very positive for Kenya. Besides Kat who is partnering with our project there is the 2016 Face of Kenya winner and ten more contestants that are all coming to serve various charities across Kenya. Thus making small community projects be heard out there and gain more local impact from the funds raised and for finding ambassadors. Certainly I cannot find enough words to praise Janet Wainaina the FOK-USA founder and Wacu Ndirangu the FOK-USA manager.
I asked Kat why she chose our charity, why she chose the sanitary towels and under-garments program for poor women that we served. She answered me very succinctly, “The reason I specifically chose this particular charity was because first of all is because I am a woman and can imagine what the girls have to go through. The other reasons came in after I did my research on the effects it has on the girls in the long run. Some of which were 1. Emotional and Psychological stress, 2.School Absenteeism, 3. Some girls resort to unhygienic and unsafe solutions that sometimes lead to urinary tract infections and lastly that 50% of Kenyan girls in slums engage in transactional sex or are sexually exploited to get money for these basic female supplies hence the risk of HIV and STDs”
She went on to add, “I believe the POVERTY cycle in Kenya can only be broken when girls stay in school, I believe that the community coming together to help OUR girls by trying to provide menstrual needs will help them restore their dignity and do not have to sell themselves sexually in order to have a normal life. Girls need women to look up to that can encourage them how to pursue their dreams, be focused, determined and live a purposeful life”
“….as I have noticed, although Kenya has many successful daughters, just a few decent, hard working, dignified, goal oriented, determined and respectable women in Kenyan society spare their time and resources to lead our girls to the right path. This is why I am very passionate about extending a helping hand to as many young females, irrespective of their backgrounds, because I believe in each and every one of them”.
I am convinced that there is a major deception we all need to address. It is widely believed that menstruation is a women only issue. I strongly disagree. I think menstruation is a male issue as well, because without menstruation, there is no LIFE. My instinct is that men should be involved as well — not just in helping meet the menstrual hygiene needs of our women, but to also address the social stigma attached to menstruation. Women all over the world are forced to have to endure the social stigma associated with menstruation. I invite you to read my most recent article published in the Africa Feminism blog provoking action to end this kind of stigma.
As I put my pen down, it has come to my attention that over the years a lot of attention has been directed to girls completely disregarding the plight of the boy child. For this reason you will see a mushrooming number of street boys in almost every town. Even in my one street town of Kiambu. I am just raising this so that we can ruminate on how to put concerted efforts to help both girls and boys simultaneously so that as one Kikuyu saying cautions, “tũtigaite tũkionoria” (don’at spill what you are trying to salvage into a container). As Rev. William John Henry Boetcker (1873–1962) once said: “You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong”
The Author is Founder & Project Manager
Fountain of Hope Life Centre (http://fohlc.org)
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