Inspiration and aims.

I have been inspired by the work of a friend, Cath Holland, a Midwife from Cumbria. She is the founder of Beyond FGM and a tireless anti FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) campaigner. After witnessing the horror of an FGM ceremony in 1998, Cath has strived to eradicate this horrific practice. The Beyond FGM team work relentlessly to provide an alternative to FGM, to train, to educate and to empower. Beyond FGM is fully committed to ending FGM within a generation.

I am raising funds to buy menstrual cups, which Cath has agreed to take directly to Kenya, to distribute and educate women on how to use them in the areas where she and her team work. Any money raised will pay for cups and nothing else.

Cups cost £1, in the UK women spend a monthly average of £13 on feminine hygiene, £8 on new underwear (spillages), £4.50 on pain relief, £8.50 on comforting snacks and £7 on other items, such as magazines and toiletries. So for less than a box of tampons or towels you can change a life, not just for a month but for up to 10 years! I am passionate about the difference menstrual cups can make to women’s lives.

I am asking you to donate so that we can provide safe, low cost sanitary products and better hygiene management in rural areas in Kenya. Any money donated will help the lives of women and girls with less than we have. I consider sanitary products a necessity. Nobody should have to go without because of menstruation.

What is the problem the project is addressing?

In the poorest regions of the world women and girls are the ones that suffer most. Only 12 % of women, worldwide, have access to sanitary products. 70% of the world's poorest people are women and girls, and they are regularly missing school or work because they are on their period. In some parts of Africa, women in rural areas can resort to using rags or leaves and other uncomfortable methods, all of which increase the chance of infection.

Millions of poverty-stricken women and girls cannot afford food, never mind sanitary protection. This situation is intolerable. Those girls forfeit their future educational prospects, repeating the cycle of poverty, humiliation and potential health risks. Girls miss up to 40 days a year resulting in their education unequal to boys and men and they do not have the same chance to succeed as men. This must stop! Solution: Menstrual cups

How will this project solve the problem?

A menstrual cup can last up to 10 years, which will enable girls to attend school every day, eliminating a huge cause of teasing and humiliation for thousands/millions of teenage girls growing up in dire poverty. Cups are hygienic, other options for these girls involve using sand or washing old clothing. We need women to have a stronger role in society; the cups could enable them to go to school for the whole month, or not have to stay away from work and miss out on vital wages to support their families.

What is the potential long-term impact of this project?

This campaign is not just about a free hand out, it goes towards solving an issue which is associated with dire poverty and the devastating spin offs thereof. Life is hard enough living in informal settlements in rudimentary housing, girls are so much more vulnerable than boys, periods should not exacerbate this.