A bale of sanitary towels donated to Our Lady of Mercy orphanage at Mikindani by the Red Cross Society. [Photo/Maxwell Ngala].
The Kenya Red Cross Society Mombasa branch has launched a sanitary towels distribution project targeting needy girls in orphanages and schools in the county.The organisation’s welfare officer Rafik Rauf said the project would enable school going girls to carry on with their education.Rauf said girls who cannot afford sanitary towels opt to remain at home during their monthly cycle, thus missing lessons.Speaking at Our Lady of Mercy orphanage in Mikindani, Mombasa, after donating sanitary pads to the needy girls, Rauf said the project requires support for it to benefit more girls.He said the majority of residents have failed to realise that lack of sanitary towels interferes with the girl child’s education, adding that the problem was getting worse.He appealed to well-wishers and other organisations to come up with strategies to help the needy girls.“We are urging our friends to support this project which is meant to help our girls whether in orphanages, in schools or in the villages,” said Rauf.Rauf said well-wishers are urged to contribute a Sh3,400 bale which lasts for a for a year, to enable girls to carry on with their daily activities even during their monthly period.“However, we have discovered that some girls especially those in the villages do not have panties, so we have developed a different option where one can donate a pack of Sh4,400 a year which also contains four inner wears,” said Rauf.The Red Cross official raised concerns over reports from Kwale County where some girls use dry cow dung during their periods.“It is absurd for us to receive these reports. Our next project will be in Kwale where we will focus on the welfare of the girl child in areas facing hardships among them Kinango, Msambweni, Lungalunga among others,” said Rauf.