Girls in Kenya

When I think of the young girls of Kenya it seems that the deck is stacked against them.

Receiving a dowry from a prospective husband is a part of this rural Kenyan culture.  I can understand why a father with a large family of sons and daughters who is not able to adequately feed and educate all, would decide to take dowry money, remove his daughter from school even at a young age and marry her off.  I don't like it or approve of it but I do understand it. The value of educating girls is a new concept here.  Perhaps with the dowry money he can educate his sons and feed his whole family for a time.  Marriage at a young age to older men is acceptable. Only time and seeing the value an educated woman can be to society will change this deeply ingrained tradition.  And for that to happen the number of Kenyan young women staying in school must increase.  Kenya Keys is helping with that!

Also girls are expected to work hard when they do come home from school.  Cooking, fetching water, watching younger brothers and sisters, tending the garden.... all of these duties fall to the daughters leaving little time to study.

Mother Nature plays her part to make education difficult for these girls.  When there is little or no money, the purchase of sanitary products monthly is not the norm.  Also there is no trash pickup so when they do have such things, they must be burned or put into the latrine.  Often during their 'time of the month' girls simply stay home from school.  You can imagine what missing several days every month does to keeping up with course work.

Kenya Keys, with the help of several women's groups in the US, is doing something to help this last problem.  First by giving girls underwear!  Surprised me to learn that many simply don't have any.  Here interns Aly and Morgan prepare bags of undies for distribution to the schools.  A female teacher at each school has responsibility for the 'girl child' and she decides who receives each donation.  The only counsel from Kenya Keys is to give the underwear and sanitary kits to the 'poorest of the poor."

Sanitary kits that are washable are made by women's groups and carried to Kenya by the interns in their suitcases.  You can't fill up a suitcase totally with books and keep it under the 50 lb. limit imposed by the airlines so it is nice to have these light fillers!  Some of the sanitary kits were made by a group of Mormon and Muslim women working together.  Lovely concept!

Here interns Dorothy and Alicia show the girls how to use and wash the pads.  

Notice the smile on the girl's face as Morgan and Aly show the kits to them.

I often think of how a group of American teens would react if we suggested that they use 'washable pads'!  What do you think?  Would such a gift bring the same bright smiles?  I am sure that the brightly patterned fabric of the bags to hold the supplies, as well as the pads themselves, are a part of the attraction but these Kenyan girls are desperate for anything that will help them to stay in school and receive the education that can change their lives.

Special thanks to all the women who lovingly sew these bright cheerful sanitary kits to help young women that they will never meet.  I hope the smiles on their faces are thank you enough!