One Hundred Kits Sent to Sudan
May 19, 2008
In late April, Goods 4 Girls sent out 500 pads (100 kits) that were delivered in South Sudan in early May by the Vermont-based non-profit called the New Sudan Education Initiative (NESEI).
NESEI is an organization that was started by former Sudanese refugees in 2006 with the goal of building 20 secondary school in war-torn South Sudan. They have a special interest in promoting and providing education and career training to young women, war-orphans, and other disadvantaged or at-risk youth. I was contacted by them in March as they had concern over their female students, many of whom belong to destitute families or have never been taught about menstruation.
Many of the girls lack proper sanitation upon arrival, and NESEI doesn't feel that it is environmentally-friendly or sustainable to bring in disposable pads. That's where Goods 4 Girls and, ultimately, you and your donations get to help. They have or will soon have 100 girls of menstruating age in the school and need kits badly. They plan to use the kits in concordance with pro-active menstruation education and help.
I hope to be getting a report back soon as an update on how the distribution is going there. If you are interested in donating, please check out the How to Donate page.
Deanna Duke
Goods 4 Girls
Lwala, Kenya Pad Distribution
April 12, 2008
I just got news from Lwala Community Alliance Project Director, Joel Wickre, who is in Kenya right now distributing the sanitary pads donated from Goods 4 Girls to the girls in Lwala. Seventy kits (each containing 5 pads and 1 carry case) were sent with him on his trip there April 2nd. Joel posted a report on the Lwala Community Alliance blog and the pictures in this post are from his visit. You can read the full report here.
Here is an excerpt:
There has been a developing interest lately in the issue of sanitary pads for girls in Africa. The interest stems from the fact that many girls drop out of primary school when they get their period, because there are no toilet facilities at school and they don’t have access to sanitary pads. This is certainly true in Lwala. But in digging deeper we found the picture to be still darker; boys are offering to buy the girls pads in exchange for sex.
This is one manifestation of a widespread problem that public health types blithely call “transactional sex.” In settings of extreme poverty and gender inequality, sex is one of the few forms of capital available to women. But the stakes are high. For the girls, and for the boys as well, the risk of getting HIV and other STIs is huge. Though we don’t know the prevalence of HIV in Lwala for sure, we estimate it may be as high as 30% based on the data we have from Lwala and the surrounding areas. And youth ages 14-24 are often at significantly higher risk than other age groups. And of course for the girls, there’s the unintended risk of ending the problem of menstruation, however temporarily, by getting pregnant.
We wanted to address this issue of injustice at Lwala Primary School. However, we don’t feel that the wholesale importation of pads and tampons from American firms, which is in vogue right now, is either sustainable or environmentally friendly. So we partnered with a new non-profit in the states called Goods4Girls, which provides reusable fabric sanitary pads for girls in settings of poverty. In fact, we’re their very first implementing partner! Thanks to the coordination of Caitlin Reiner, the LCA education committee chair, and Deanna Duke, the founder of Goods4Girls, I was able to carry over a suitcase full of reusable pads sewn by women in the U.S.On Thursday we took advantage of the opportunity afforded by the pads to do a sex ed and hygiene training day at Lwala Primary.
We began with a lively participatory discussion with all the children from 4th through 8th grade, led by the clinic’s lab technician, with help from our new CO John Badia and other clinic staff members, about puberty and changing bodies, HIV/AIDS, and other STIs. The girls gathered together with the female teachers and nurses to learn more about menstruation and how to use and wash the pads. The school principal, Madam Damaris, was delighted. She deals with so many challenges in getting the girls through school safely, and this is one huge challenge met.
Thank you Goods4Girls!
Erokamano Gige Nyiri!I’ll let the girls thank you themselves, in English and in DhoLuo. Just click on the links to see the videos. In DhoLuo, “thank you goods for girls” is “erokamano gige nyiri.” On behalf of the LCA and Lwala Primary School, I’d like to express my appreciation to Goods4Girls, Deanna, Caitlin, and all those who donated pads to Goods4Girls. This will make a great difference in the life and education of the girls of Lwala. THANK YOU!
This is such awesome news! Make sure you click on the links to see the videos of the girls.
Thanks to all of you who have been donating. The next shipment of pads will go out in the next week or so to be delivered in Sudan. Thanks again to GladRags for their generous donation that was sent to Lwala!
For those of you wondering how you can help donate, visit the How to Donate page.
Deanna Duke
Goods 4 Girls
70 Kits Sent to Lwala, Kenya
March 26, 2008
Yesterday, Goods 4 Girls sent out a shipment of 70 kits (each kit has 5 menstrual pads and 1 carry bag) that will travel with several aid workers to Lwala, Kenya on April 2nd. The donations that were made through GladRags and Dianne's are included in this shipment. The kits will go to the girls of menstruating age in the primary school in Lwala and will be distributed by the health care workers from the Lwala Community Health Center. The Lwala Community Alliance is a new group that we are working with. The history of this organization is quite an interesting one. Two brothers from the village came to the U.S. to go to school and continued onto medical school. Both their parents died from the AIDS epidemic and one of the last wishes of their father was to build a medical clinic so that others in the village could be cared for. As such, this alliance was formed. In addition to fundraising for and building the clinic, the Lwala Community Alliance also assists in educating children in the area. One of the foci is keeping girls in school.
From their website:
In Lwala, where most families do not consider education of girls a financial priority, free primary education dramatically increased the number of girls in school. However, a host of challenges surrounding adolescence, from the simple challenges of managing menstrual periods without facilities to the complex challenges of families expecting adolescent girls to manage their households, have kept graduation rates among girls very low. For those girls that do graduate from primary school, the few families that have the means to pay for secondary school are far more likely to send their boys to secondary school than their girls.
Not surprisingly, the head teacher at the primary school is thrilled with the prospect of the donations from Goods 4 Girls. Your donations will make a radical difference in the quality of these girl's lives. I cannot begin to tell you all how absolutely exciting it is to get the first shipment going. The most exciting part of this delivery will be the fact that the kits will be hand-carried over by individuals who work for the Lwala Community Alliance. We will, hopefully, be getting some rather immediate feedback on how the deliveries go. Please visit the Lwala website to learn more about what other work they are doing there.
The next shipment of 60 kits will go out soon to Kabondo, Kenya. If you are interested in donating, please check out the How to Donate page.
Deanna Duke
Goods 4 Girls
Goods 4 Girls Kits Now Available
March 12, 2008
Two major cloth menstrual pad manufacturers are now offering Goods 4 Girls kits on their websites for purchase.
Lunapads, a Vancouver, BC company, is offering two kits. The Goods 4 Girls Lunapads Kit includes 1 Mini Pad, 2 Mini liners, 1 Mini wing liner, 1 Maxi Pad, 2 Maxi liners, 1 Maxi wing liner plus a washable, waterproof nylon pouch and retails for $29.99. The Goods 4 Girls Lunapanties Kit includes 2 pairs of Deluxe Lunapanties, 4 Maxi liners, 2 Maxi wing liners plus a washable, waterproof nylon pouch and retails for $39.99. The Lunapanties kits will be targeted towards areas where girls can not afford or otherwise do not have underwear. Both of these kits are discounted and shipping exempt if purchased on behalf of Goods 4 Girls.
The kit is highlighted on Lunapad's main page and they mentioned their partnership with Goods 4 Girls in a recent newsletter that went out to their customers. They have also added two posts on their blog describing their participation in the program. It is another fantastic way to help spread the word.
GladRags, based in Portland, OR, is also offering a Goods 4 Girls Kit, which retails for $34.49. If you purchase a 3-Pack of GladRags Regular Day Pads to donate to Goods 4 Girls, GladRags will donate a GladRags Carry Bag. GladRags has also mentioned their partnership with Goods 4 Girls in a recent newsletter and has written about this issue in the past on their blog.
I encourage you all to check out their sites and their posts if you would like to learn more about how Lunapads and GladRags are working with Goods 4 Girls.
Deanna Duke
Goods 4 Girls
Goods 4 Girls Announces Aid Organizations
February 27, 2008
I am pleased to announce that Goods 4 Girls has established working relationships with two aid organizations for distribution of pad donations.
Kabondo Poverty Alleviation Organization is located in Western Kenya. The most urgent need in this area is to organize care for HIV/AIDS orphans aged 16 years and below. This problem has priority since investing in these youngsters at the formative stages of their lives is a great investment in the future of this community. This organization has access and the ability to distribute donations within and beyond the Kabondo community.
The local representative had this to say about the Goods 4 Girls project:
I know now that we will work together to make a difference to thousands of young ladies in my district and beyond. The need is great and that is why the Government stepped in [to remove duty and taxes on sanitary pads] because they could not afford to help those who could not gain access to these vital items. I have come to realise that some girls could not go to school or carry out daily activities during certain periods of the month for fear of the flow since they did not have anything to control and preferred to stay at home where they could use unhygienic methods to control it and go to school when it is all over.
This disruption of daily life programs for reason of something that can be addressed really disturbs me. Some girls also use torn pieces of clothes which are sometimes very dirty. These lead to severe vaginal infections not to mention that the flow leaks through causing untold personal embarrassment and stigma in the community. Such kind of community ridicule kills the girls' self esteem and confidence and stagnates them significantly.
The need is great and I know once we have set up the process of distribution, the response will be amazing. I want to thank you in advance for offering to stand by these young ladies in the most critical period of their development. A natural process of God's creation and body regulation should never again be a source of ridicule and embarrassment.
Good 4 Girls sent out a sample kit to Kabondo this week. There are 60 orphan girls of menstruating age in Kabondo and they will be the first recipients of the pad donations. Each kit sent to the girls will contain 5 pads, instructions and a carrying case.
Goods 4 Girls will be sending out 60 kits to support these girls as soon as we have received enough donations. We are hoping to do so by the end of March 2008.
The Pearl Children Care Center is located in Eastern Uganda. The experiences of HIV/AIDS, poverty and natural disasters in Uganda over the last three decades have left many people, particularly orphaned children and youth, in a situation of extreme vulnerability having been left destitute, abused and exploited. The Pearl Children Care Center is conscious of the need to protect, educate, develop and save this vital population from these problems. The Director of this program had this to say about the lack of menstrual supplies in their country and working with Goods 4 Girls:
The girls' problems in South Africa are not different from those in Uganda, except that it is worse here. We recently watched a TV program which highlighted this problem in the villages to the extent that some children missed their end of year exams because of their inability to contain their menstrual outflows or had never even used a pad at all!
Your offer has come at the right time and we pledge our full support and cooperation in this endeavor. Our target areas are firstly and foremost the schools both in towns and villages, with the latter taking priority.
I am very excited to be working with these two organizations and look forward to sending donations to help the girls in their communities.
To help with donations, please visit the How to Donate page.
Thanks to all who are supporting Goods 4 Girls!
Deanna Duke
Goods 4 Girls
Welcome to Goods 4 Girls
February 15, 2008
Goods 4 Girls is currently working towards setting up relationships with non-governmental organizations to help target areas of need, to facilitate donations and to help with distribution.
Since there are few agencies that currently work on women's health issues specifically regarding menstruation, contacts may include organizations that will provide the menstrual pads not only to school girls, but women who don't have access to sufficient products.
Goods 4 Girls will be looking into the distribution of reusable menstrual cups in the future as well for areas where clean water (or the ability to boil water) is not an issue.
Goods 4 Girls has had several positive responses from various organizations. One of the primary ones we will be working with is in Uganda.
Please join us in helping these girls by donating.
Thank you!
Deanna Duke
Goods 4 Girls
