Happy International Women’s Day! A time to celebrate being a woman, and all the challenges that we face.
Being a woman often means dealing with a period which many of us know is not always easy. However imagine dealing with a period without any menstruation products. This is the sad reality for many girls in rural Kenya. Unicef found that 7 per cent of women and girls they surveyed in Kenya rely on old cloths, pieces of blankets, chicken feathers, mud and newspapers and in poor rural areas it’s many more.
Recently we have rebranded as Power of Pads and our new name says it all. Having access to pads can be powerful for women in Kenya. It gives them the means to escape the vicious cycle of period poverty, as they can attend school throughout the month with no embarrassment. It can also reduce the number of girls being sexually abused in exchange for sanitary items, plus the grants that we offer communities, to be spent on sewing machines and materials for reusable pads, can empower women as not only do they have period products but an income. On this International Women’s Day let’s remember and recognise these girls and women and help them to achieve a more equal future.
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