SISTER2SISTER INITIATIVE

A year ago, Citizen TV-Kenya broadcasted an investigative report on how women and girls in Kenya lack the basic right to access affordable and readily available sanitary towels. I could feel tears in my eyes as I watched one young girl bend and help herself to a hole as an alternative to hide her menstrual flow. And I wondered to myself, how can I help?

The image above shows a lady (left) who sells diapers and sanitary towels and who later donated a full carton to me (right) of sanitary towels after we talked about the crippling situation in Kenya due to lack of access to sanitary towels for girls. She has inspired me to start SISTER2SISTER initiative to help our girls.

SISTER2SISTER needs the immediate attention of  women rights organisations, the government and citizens for it to advance in helping our girls. I call them our girls, because they are our future mothers, our aunties, and our younger sisters going through unimaginable lengths to hide themselves during their menstrual flow

This initiative:

1.       Ensures that girls use hygienic and readily available sanitary towels for their menstruation flow

2.       Ensures that girls/ women are comfortable in all environments that they are exposed to and do not have to hide at home especially marginalized communities during and until the menstruation flow is complete. They will go about their daily activities normally with no interruption.

3.       Provides feedback where citizens can send requests on the areas where access to sanitary towels is limited

 The initiative incorporates both traditional and modern methods to reach out to the girls who are in dire need of the sanitary towels

• ·        We visit girls’ schools, children homes to educate them on the initiative

• ·         We request for donations in the form of old household goods and old materials and repair them, sell and obtain money to buy sanitary towels

• ·         Supply the sanitary towels bought on a needs by needs basis in schools, homes in marginalized areas

• ·         We also apply for government support through the Youth Access Fund to obtain funding for buying sanitary towels

• ·         We also partner with companies that manufacture the towels so that they offer fair prices and help in the supplying them
  
  
  SISTER2SISTER Initiative has a “Donate Box”  to donate items for this Project in partner institutions that we have visited.
  
         
  We Sell donated items in the informal sector and save up the money in an organizational savings account and buy the sanitary towels 
    
  We receive feedback through an SMS platform where girls can contact us. Similarly, partners give us ideas on how we can engage more citizens in this project
  We also provide the pubic free information on the statistics of the number of schools and homes we have been able to help within a quarterly basis (every 3 months)
  
  
  
  
  This will help us improve the health rights of women and girls.
  
  
  If you wish to Get Involved in this project do not hesitate to Leave a Comment on this Post