Many girls, especially from poor families drop out of primary and secondary schools in Machakos county just because they can not afford to pay the little 'tuition' fee demanded by government schools.
Even if their parents struggle to raise the fee, most girls still absent themselves from school during their menstruating days because they lack sanitary pads.
This means that those girls with heavy flow will miss close to 5 days of learning days every month while those will light flow will skip 4 days of school every month.
The boys therefore get ahead of them as far as syllabus coverage is concerned. It is because of this problem facing girls in primary and secondary schools that one good-hearted resident of Machakos Irene Mulu started the campaign dubbed, 'Keep a girl in school.'
She mobilises well-wishers and various governmental and non-governmental organisations to donate sanitary pads to schools.
Her campaign aims at reaching out to destitute girls and providing pads for them not to miss school.