Menstruation doesn’t have to mean an end to education for young girls in Kenya

For girls and women here in the USA, it is impossible to imagine attending school as an adolescent without the basic necessities of underwear and sanitary towels, but this is the reality for many girls in Samburu County, in Kenya, home to the Samburu people, a semi-nomadic pastoralist community.

Menstruation without these items means many girls have no choice but to stay at home from school for 4-5 days per month. The impact of such frequent absenteeism results in lower educational achievements and often leads to girls dropping out of school before completing their national exit exams KCPE – the Kenyan Primary Certificate.

Upendo Womens Foundation and the Pastoralist Child Foundation have partnered to educate girls in 10 schools around Waso Ward, Archer’s Post-Samburu County to teach health education, sanitation and also about the negative effects of FGM and child marriage.  We are creating a girl-friendly learning environment for some of the most isolated and disadvantaged school children in Kenya. Together our goal is to educate, empower and give back the dignity to these girls.

The project sets out to ensure primary school-children, especially girls, are enrolled in school, stay in school, perform well and continue to secondary and higher institutions of learning. A central part of this involves tackling one of the ongoing obstacles to keeping girls in education in Kenya, that of menstruation.

For most girls, getting their first period is often a trying time, but for girls in rural Kenya it can mean an end to education. This ongoing project will help improve the school learning environment by providing Upendo dignity kits (washable reusable pads), girl-friendly latrines, underwear and the delivery of health and sex education training.

Additionally, FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) is a core cultural practice among the Samburu people and is considered a pre-curser for marriage. For Samburu girls who stay in school, FGM and early marriage may be delayed, but poor performance and absenteeism due to menstruation often leads parents to disregard the benefits of education. Without school, girls as young as nine are subjected to FGM and subsequent childhood marriage. In times of hardship and drought, girls are traded as brides in exchange for livestock.

Although illegal in Kenya, FGM remains a cultural rite of passage for many traditional in most pastoralist communities, but progress is being made. In schools where the community and health education project is not operating, FGM rates are around 73 per cent among these communities. In schools where it is operating FGM rates have decreased to 62 per cent, and continue to decline.