Nairobi Monday 8th February 2010: With the launch of Huru International, underprivileged girls can now enjoy the freedom to attend school without worrying about the stigma of menstruation, which causes more than 22% of school-age girls to miss at least four days of school each month.
The project, launched today in Kenya, is devoted to producing and distributing Huru Kits, each of which contains eight re-usable sanitary pads, three pairs of underwear, plastic bags for storing used towels, and soap to wash the towels. Each pad will last approximately one year with regular use and proper maintenance;
Huru International’
“We realize that many school girls have very limited access to necessary feminine hygiene resources, especially sanitary pads. The kit we are launching today will help to keep girls in school and allow them to achieve the futures they deserve,” explains Lorna Macleod, the Executive Director of AmericaShare.
“Young girls are often forced to make their own substitutes for sanitary pads out of unsafe materials—sometimes even recycling used pads, which is especially dangerous,” Lorna added. “Apart from this, the longer girls stay in school, the more aware they are of the dangers of HIV/AIDS; and the better educated they are, the better equipped they are to escape poverty and remain healthy later in life. Evidence has also shown that simply by remaining in a school environment, girls become sexually active at a later age, when they have a clearer perception of the dangers of HIV/AIDS.”
At the launch, HURU presented 8,000 kits to networks that work with learning institutions, to identify the neediest girls and deliver kits to them.
“We love the fact that these Huru Reusable Sanitary Napkins truly set the young girls who receive them on a level playing field with young men,” says Johnson and Johnson’s Renee Kiamba. “We continue to receive testimonies of the lives that have been changed by Huru Reusable Sanitary Pads, from Nairobi to as far as Muhuru Bay on the shores of Lake Victoria! We are very excited about the future of this innovative solution, and proud to be associated with it!”
Huru Kits are manufactured at the Harambe Centre, based in Mukuru Kwa Njenga, by a well-trained staff drawn from within the community. They are available for purchase by NGOs, relief agencies, and private donors, and are provided to Kenyan girls for free. Huru International also has pilot distributions underway in Mombasa and Kisumu, where the organization is working with women’s groups and schools.
The kit contains:
• Menstrual Pads—A set of eight (8) Reusable Sanitary Napkins (RSNs): Five (5) regular pads;Three (3) overnight pads
• Underwear—
• Waterproof Ziploc Bag—A small Ziploc bag designed for transporting the pads
• Soap—A small bar of hygienic soap to clean the pads
• Educational Insert—A colorful pamphlet (in English and Swahili) that contains:
o Information on HIV/AIDS prevention;
o An overview of fundamental aspects of a young woman’s sexual and reproductive health;
o Instructions on the proper use of the reusable sanitary napkins
About the partnership
Huru Initiative is getting financial and logistical support from several partner organizations including;
• Johnson&
• PEPFAR-
• Elton John AIDS Foundation- www.ejaf.org
• Warner Brothers -www.warnerbros.com
• Sunflag – Developed the material www.sunflagsteel.com
For more information please call Mumbi Keega on +254 722 366 380, +254 020 4454461-8 or email Mumbi.keega@
