WUNRN
28 January 2010
New study shows sanitary protection for girls in developing countries may provide a route to raising their educational standards
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KENYA - SCHOOLGIRLS SANITARY KITS
MAY CUT SCHOOL ABSENTEEISM
February 15, 2010
Tackling a problem that is widespread but rarely discussed, a new
American-backed charity in Kenya has begun making and giving away kits
containing washable sanitary pads, underwear and soap.
Many
schoolgirls from poor families stay home up to five days each month when they
have their period, according to a
recent 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;
a Kenyan girl interviewed by the Voice
of America said a box of pads costs about the same as a bag of corn
flour, and her parents had to choose the latter.
Substitutes
like cloth, mattress padding or newspaper may leak or raise the risk of
infection. 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 charity arm of Micato Safaris, a New York travel company. 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.
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