Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Teens help girls living in slums not to miss school
A group of women have been providing people in poor areas of Kenya with vital sanitary products.
Susanna Odedina, Sera Mustafa, Tara Tijani, Ruby Dollner, Nina Cassells and Eirinn Carroll, all 19, launched Project Period in 2017.
The campaign aims to stop girls from missing school because of their periods by educating them about menstrual cycles.
They have supplied schoolgirls in Kibera, one of the biggest slums in Nairobi, Kenya, with more than 400 menstrual cups. Project Period has travelled to the area twice before, once in 2018 and once last year, and had hoped to travel again at the end of August. Susanna Odedina, from Strood, said: “Girls in Kenya are missing school because of their periods.
“On average, girls in Kibera will miss two months of school a year due to not being able to afford sanitary products which has an effect on their attendance as well as their grades.
“It is a taboo subject in African culture, we can already see the impact we have on their confidence. “Confidence is key to learning; the ability to ask questions, stand in front of a class and deliver your opinion, all boils down to how you feel about yourself. The group visit different schools and provide them with menstrual cups and run classes to teach girls about their periods and how to use the cups. “We truly believe that our project is helping these girls to not only complete secondary education, but with the support, Project Period will allow them to create a life for themselves outside of the slum.”