February 16, 2010
London (Unit Kingdom) An American NGO has begun distributing sanitary kits in Kenya ; aimed at tackling absenteeism and other widespread problems associated with ’menstrual health’ among school-girls in the East African country, APA learns here.
In tackling the issue which they see as ’rarely’ discussed in the society, officials of AmericaShare, backing charity in Kenya, are currently giving away kits containing washable sanitary pads, underwear and soap to beneficiaries.
Many schoolgirls from poor families stay home up to five days each month when they have their period, according to a study in rural Ghana by Oxford University scientists.
Disposable sanitary pads like those used in wealthy countries cut absenteeism, but poor families often cannot afford them ; with a box of pads costing about the same as a bag of corn flour, and parents had to choose the latter, researchers found.
Substitutes like cloth, mattress padding or newspaper may leak or raise the risk of infection.
According to AmericaShare, not only are the girls embarrassed, but as soon as it is clear they are ovulating, pressure for sex from men — often including their male teachers — steadily increases, the study found.
Huru International, in partnership with the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, Sunflag Steel, Warner Brothers and other backers, developed large but soft terry-cloth pads that can be washed and reused.
They are sewn and packaged at a Nairobi community center supported by AmericaShare.
The kits also contain information about safe sex and avoiding AIDS.
AmericaShare hopes other African women will use microfinance loans to buy the machines needed to make the pads and sell them.
