top of page

The project has two objectives: (1) to enhance their access to affordable sanitary supplies & options and (2) to enhance access to sexual health information. The prize money has been used to purchase the initial batch of re-usable sanitary pads distributed to girls. However this is just as far as it can go and very few girls can benefit. It is for this reason that using the support-a-Girl framewok, individuals, organisations and corporate bodies are encouraged to donate re-usable sanitary pads to a given number of girls for an agreed peiod of time which are then distributed to the girls at no cost.To enhance access to sexual health information: Central strategies include but not limited to: talks, challenge shows, debates, info-sessions, role modeling, career advice, art and mentoring.

 

Kakamega County is located in Western Kenya, 0.2833° N, 34.7500° E about 30km north of the equator.  It is 110.3km away from Kisumu International Airport and 121.5km away from Eldoret International Airport.  The administrative setting consists of Kakamega Central, Kakamega North (Malava Sub-County), Kakamega East, Kakamega South, Lugari and Mumias districts. . Kakamega County has 401 public primary schools.

 

Under this project 81 girls at Sheywe Primary School were supplied with Re-Usable Sanirary pads. Sheywe Primary School is located in Malava Sub-County, 22.8 kilometers east from Kakamega town along the Kakamega-Webuye road. The pads were procured from "I Care" a non profit organisation that produces and supplies Re-Usable Sanirary pads at a subsidised price. The event was carried out on March 6th, 2015 and included education on sexual and reproductive health for both boys and girls as well as career advice. Reproductive health nurses Mary Buluma and Erick Mwanga from Malava County Hospital facilitated the sessions on sexual and reproductive health. A key concern for the project that emerged from the event was that whereas sanitary pads can be provided some of the girls do not have reliable underclothing which is a key accessory required for the proper fanctioning of the pads. This is a challange that has to be overcome probably by supplying the undergarments along with the pads. One of the emmerging issues during the separate boys and girls sessions was the cultural practices during cirmuscission that emphasise the wrongly percieved "macho" status of the transition from boyhood to manhood. The wrong perception gives the impression that after circumcision a man's standing is among other parameter evaluated by the number of girlfriends he keeps. Such a percption does not help efforts to mitigate against early engagement in sex  leading to increased chances of early pregnancies, acquisition of sexually transmitted diseases and certainly low educational outcomes for girls. The  school has a computer room constructed in 2008 with basic electrical wiring but lacks even a single computer for the students to use in learning basic computer skill.

 

A similar event is planned for Mukangu & Samitsi primary schools.

​Support – a- Girl

YPMF is implementing the inaugural project for which the award was granted “Support – a- Girl” project in Kakamega County

 

This is a project aimed at increasing the educational outcomes for girls by addressing their reproductive and sexual health issues. The key target is girls in grade 6-8. It seeks to offer practicle solutions to the problems girls encounter due to post-puberty circumstances which affect their chances of completing education, resulting from issues related to mensturation, teen pregnancy, and early marriage (sometimes forced marriages).

bottom of page