I’m currently volunteering with VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) in Taita-Taveta, Kenya. One of my placements is teaching at a VTC (vocational training centre). When I first started visiting Marungu VTC, one of the teachers asked me if there was any way I could supply the girls there with sanitary products as the majority of them could not afford it. Unfortunately, I had to explain that I was there to teach and that my project did not have the capacity to cater for that expense.

As a middle-class, British woman, I have always had an abundance of sanitary products at my disposal and have taken them entirely for granted. However, having experienced my first period in Kenya without the luxury of hot water or western toilets, I have gained a small insight into some of the challenges that many Kenyan girls face whilst on their periods. I found it difficult, as have many of the other volunteers and yet we aren‘t even facing the real challenge, we still have products.

In Kenya, mestruation is still considered a taboo topic. Menstruation is shameful and not to be discussed. This leads to a lack of education and understanding. Only 12% of girls feel comfortable talking to their mother about their period. 65% of women and girls in Kenya cannot afford sanitary towels. Shockingly, amongst those that do have access to products, 2 out of 3 sanitary towel users were given them by sexual partners. Women are actually having sexual relations in exchange for sanitary products. Finally, 1 in 4 Kenyan women do not even associate pregnancy with menstruation. The statistics are shocking!

We want to do everything we can to help the girls in the community we are working in, so my counterpart and I have decided to hold a community outreach at our VTC on Period Poverty. The event will take place on the 17th of August and we will be teaching girls and women of all ages how to make reusable sanitary towels from scrap materials. A health practicioner will also provide a talk on period health and hygiene, vaginal infections, endomitriosis, and educate women on the signs and symptoms of both cervical and breast cancer.

As a parting gift, we would like to supply our VTC with a years supply of sanitary towels. Kenyan girls on average miss over 4 days of education per year due to stained clothing and this figure is often much higher in rural areas. We will be applying to Action Aid and asking them to match the money we raise, in order to continue to provide products to the VTC after our inital years supply runs out. To supply 25 girls for 1 year, the cost is £180. Just £7 can literally change a girls life.

Anything you can give is gratefully appreciated.

Chloe & the ICS Taita-Taveta Period Poverty and Health team.