This project will avail 50 rural school girls with a packet of sanitary pads to keep them at school for a year. Last year Global giving donors supported 80 girls with these pads in our community. When girls start missing school they are far more likely to be exposed to other risks such as early pregnancy and marriage and HIV/AIDS.
About 90% of girls in rural areas cannot afford sanitary pads. Evidence suggests that the period around puberty is one in which many girls drop out of school or are absent from school for significant periods of time. This means that over 1000 girls miss 6 weeks of school every year and women miss valuable work hours. Meanwhile UNESCO estimates that one in 10 African adolescent girls miss school during menses and eventually drop out because of menstruation related issues.
Distribution of reusable sanitary pads will enable vulnerable school girls in our community to acquire at least one packet of re usable sanitary pads this year.
Provision of these pads will reduce manipulation by men who promise to provide them with the money to buy the pads, this will increase on the school enrollment and completion of education cycle.