Ending Period Poverty
How Your Turning Monthly Stuggles Into Moments Of Faith
For many girls in Kenya, their monthly menstruation is a very difficult time. It comes with misunderstanding, stigma, and financial hardship.
Those who can’t afford sanitary pads often suffer shame and embarrassment and miss weeks of school. Out of sheer desperation, some girls have even turned to selling their bodies in order to afford the hygiene items they need.
There is a lack of education. Some believe and have even been told that their blood makes them dirty or bad. As a result, they’re ashamed by their monthly cycle. Many are simply ashamed to be a girl.
But you are helping to change this. Through your support, Hand of Hope, Joyce Meyer Ministries World Missions has partnered with World Serve to provide sanitary pads—and a whole new life—for girls throughout Kenya.
Producing the Products
It all begins at Sifa Factory in Nairobi, a manufacturing facility built and paid for by Hand of Hope. Here, we use state-of-the-art equipment to fabricate high-quality sanitary pads and undergarments. We then package these pads with hygiene items like a comb, wash cloth, toothbrush, and toothpaste, along with one of Joyce’s books, filled with God’s Word.
Next, our teams deliver these packages to girls in over 100 schools across the nation, providing everything they need for an entire semester. We educate them about their menstrual cycle, explain that there is no fear or shame involved, and let them know they have been fearfully and wonderfully made and are dearly loved by God.
The results? Their faces light up, and they talk about feeling more confident. They begin to dream and talk about a future that wasn’t even possible before!
The Incredible Impact
“When we started this project, a lot of girls were missing school for up to 15 days a semester,” World Serve national director, David Kang’ethe told us. “Not having sanitary pads means low self-esteem. She can’t speak up. She can’t take part in some of the extracurricular activities…can’t pursue her dreams.”
A lot can change in a few short years. Kang’ethe says attendance is up, test scores are improving, and confidence is at an all-time high.
This Christmas season, we invite you to reach even more girls. Give her the gift of dignity and show her the love that Christ came to offer. For every $15* you give, you provide a girl with the items she needs for an entire semester—hygiene kits, education about her monthly cycle, and a message of hope.
Right now, in Kenya, you are helping to conquer period poverty and dispel menstrual silence. You are educating these young women of the beautiful gift God has given them and reminding each one that they are not forgotten, they are loved, and their future matters. And there are many more we can help together. From all of us—and from the girls who are smiling, studying, and standing tall again—thank you.
STANDING TALL
You’re Giving Girls Dignity and a Beautiful Future
When 14-year-old Sharon stands up in the classroom at her school in Kitengela, Kenya, there is something special about her. Her bold confidence and joy shine brightly. But she tells me that was not always the case.
It is one of my greatest pleasures to meet these beautiful young women and others like them all over the world. Today I have the honor of handing the girls their three-month supply of pads and watch the smiles and genuine expressions of gratitude spread across their faces. They share their stories with me, and I am once again amazed at what God can do through small acts of love.
Sharon tells me she used to tell her mother that she wished she was not a girl because it is so difficult. She shares about friends who have taken their own lives because of the shame and stigma of menstrual poverty. Since the hygiene dignity program, she says she is now happy to be a girl. She has newfound confidence and is proud of who she is.
Michell, Jane, and Angel are three friends who lean on each other to get through the hard times. Their parents don’t have money to provide for their needs, and they say they are very grateful for the pads they receive.
A bright girl named Neema tells me her parents don’t have money to provide for her hygiene needs so she would use old pieces of clothes, which led to infections. She said, “I thought that menstruation was a taboo. I felt embarrassed, but I’ve come to realize it is a natural process.”
Neema says before the program she found it difficult to concentrate in class because she was concerned about embarrassment and missing school. Now, as she explains it, she feels “free” and her performance at school has improved. She looks forward to the future.
When I asked what she wants to do, she confidently answers, “I want to do mass communications. I want to be a show presenter; I want to do what you do.” And I believe Neema can accomplish whatever she puts her mind to. With your help, her future is bright!
The words I hear repeatedly are, “Thank you!” Neema says it beautifully. “We have been gladly waiting for this day. When I saw you, I was like, we pray that God will continue to shower you with His blessings. To the donors I would like to say thank you for what you are doing. Through these pads that you give us, you are showing us God’s love. We are happy. Now I know that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
