Kenya Aid update: Feminine hygiene

I've always wondered what the girls in Kenya did at 'that time of the month'. I that some sort of protection must be being used, but was horrified to learn earlier this week exactly what was going on.

There are a group of girls at the local secondary school who are struggling. There's no money for feminine hygiene products, and none available in the village anyway, so the girls find what spare material they can and use that so they can get through their day.

Now, the girls out there who are fans of the environmentally friendly option of cloth will argue that using cloth isn't a problem, and can in fact be more healthy and just as convenient as, say, tampons or disposable pads. But there were a few other compounding factors that made this little tale quite upsetting.

First off, the girls don't have ENOUGH cloth, so they share. When one finishes her period, the cloth is passed to another and so on, often without proper cleaning. This give all sorts of diseases great potential to spread, not to mention the logistics of sorting out who gets what cloth, when.

Secondly, there is the issue of storage and cleaning. Water is limited, especially at schools, so that rules out any washing that is required to effectively use cloth pads. Next there is the question of where these cloths can be washed and still allow teenage girls to be discrete about their sexual maturation. A number of relevant studies have showed that many girls in developing countries who are using cloth have a limited supply, and due to modesty constraints, may not allow their cloth to adequately dry in the sun - girls wearing damp cloths are not only uncomfortable, but also at a higher risk for fungal infections.

Lastly, women in western countries who have decided to stick with a cloth option have the luxury of having specifically designed leak free cloth pads available. Girls in developing countries do not, resulting in many a girl being absent from school for up to 9 days per month, or leaving school entirely once reaching sexual maturity. This is a disaster when it comes to achieving gender equality and Millennium goals related increases in global levels of education.

So, with the Kenya Aid boys all being fans of feminine equality and with the help of their token girl, we thought we'd start a new fundraising drive - helping women in Kenya with access to free and low cost feminine hygiene products, education seminars on what to use and how, plus a new project design that will include effective waste management and culturally sensitive options.

More information will be available soon, or if you would like to become involved, please feel free to contact Kenya Aid for more information.