Menstruation Project

February 13, 2020
Community Updates

Helping girls go to school every day of the month.

“The Mikuyu girls are forever grateful to the friends from the UK for the gift of the menstrual cups. This has enabled them to attend school without being absent from classes due to menstruation. Thanks a lot, Malawi Schools Trust and friends.”

Alice Ngumbira

This short video from the BBC explains why girls were missing 5-7 days school every month and how this simple device means they don’t have to.

We introduced the menstruation project to the girls at Mikuyu Senior School in July 2019.

Alice, who teaches history and social studies at All Saints School in Mtunthama, first spoke to the community’s Mothers Union to secure support for the project. Only when their support was given could the girls be taught.

In the classes, the girls learn about how their bodies work and how to use and look after their own menstrual cup. The initial training continues with a monthly follow-up meeting with the girls for one year.

Thanks to a generous donation from the Frensham Heights School parents association, Friends of Frensham, we were able to arrange a year’s training program for the girls and provide each of them with a bag containing a menstrual cup and a locally made container to keep it clean.

This is truly a life-changing initiative, which also supports the local business that produces the containers.

Since it was introduced a year ago, not a single girl has missed school in Mikuyu because she had her period.

A member of Rotary Club Wetter in Germany has agreed to donate 500 euros to fund this important work, meaning this programme will continue to support girls’ attendance at school until September 2021.

We need to raise £500 every year to keep it going and equip new girls as they join the school.

Can you help?

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