Active Citizenship: Providing Sanitary Towels and Mentorship to Vulnerable Girls

As a little girl, I was always running around climbing trees and indulging my imagination as I went on an adventure. I was the leader of course, which irked the boys when I played with them because they wanted me to be the princess they rescued. I did not mind being the princess, as long as I gave the orders and went to the battle field to rescue someone else. I liked those games and I remember the feeling of being completely alive and unafraid and unobstructed.

I was an early bloomer, so my period came about a week after I had turned 11. I knew what it was because I had been to the guidance and counselling classes they had in school for those in standard 4 and above. It was usually on Friday afternoons when they would separate the boys and the girls into groups and we would be given the low down on periods, how to wear pads and of course, warned against fraternizing with the boys because ‘’bad manners led to bad things.’’

This was about the time I stopped playing with the boys and began to spend break time seated in a corner of the field watching. When my breasts started t grow, I walked around self-conscious and worried that people could see. It led to a habit that took years to break. Actually, two habits: Walking with my arms folded across my chest, and wearing a sweater or jacket, even on the hottest day. I eventually did stop and if that girl could see me now, she’d be floored by how confident I turned out to be.

Navigating adolescence is such a mine field. You’re trying to figure out your new body and feelings amidst a lot of threats in the form of advice. Then there’s the realization that periods come with discomfort and I silently protested against this thing that came to me and obstructed my life. I had terrible cramps that sometimes had me lying in bed in tears for about a decade and gritting my teeth and dosing up on painkillers became the norm.

I have been fortunate in that I have never lacked the money and access to buy sanitary towels or tampons. I can only imagine the indignity of it all and the incredible injustice that a girl must miss school days because of it. In Kenya, over 900,000 girls miss up to 4 days of school when they are on their period. This unfair reality means that these girls are unable to focus on their education as they miss classes and fall behind, with some even opting to drop out. Kenya has made gains with pads not being taxed, but they are still a luxury for so many girls especially as the poverty levels rise.

There are many amazing individuals who have recognized that there is a need to act, whether at a national policy level or a community level. Jackline Wambui is a member of the board of the Beyond Limits Initiative, a project based in Mukurweini in Nyeri. Girls in the area are raised by their grandparents who have low to no accessibility to funds. To purchase sanitary towels for Ksh 50, girls are opting to sleep with boda-boda operators, leading to a high rate of pregnancy and HIV transmission. It’s a terrible situation to have young girls being taken advantage of because of an indignity they should not be suffering in the first place.

Through the Ndoto Zetu initiative by Safaricom, Beyond Limits Initiative has received Ksh 125,000 which will be used o provide 2,500 sanitary towels for 95 students at the ACK Primary School which is 1 pack per month for 2 years. There will also be 3-month mentorship sessions on sexual and reproductive health and career mentorship for the 95 girls and 25 boys at the school.