Sustainable Menstrual Hygiene Solutions: Innovations by Dreams Girl Youth Group
By David Oduor
Dreams Girl Youth Group is a women-led youth group in the Oboch area, Nyalenda B in Kisumu County. It consists of 32 members: 28 young women and 4 men. The group was started in 2017 by young women who were trained in entrepreneurship and were passionate about empowering the women and girls in their community on matters of financial literacy and independence. The group has existed for five years, working on four thematic areas:
Socioeconomic empowerment
Sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR)
Climate action
Leadership and governance
For socioeconomic empowerment, the group carries out village savings and loaning (VSL) to help community women access financial literacy and independence.
In our interaction with the group on 17.04.2023, it became clear that the group’s main activity is SRHR, where they advocate for menstrual health and rights and menstrual hygiene. They hold safe space conversations with women and girls, and through these conversations, they realized that the main challenges in menstrual hygiene are the disposal of single-use sanitary pads and the inability of some girls to obtain sanitary towels due to the high poverty level in the area. Through partners, they managed to train the community on best practices for disposing of sanitary towels, as poorly disposed single-use pads do not degrade and thus pollute the environment.
Caption: locally made reusable sanitary towel
Photo credit: KYCTV
Speaking with the group chairperson, Ms. Yvonne Ogola, on the same date, she stated that the group is a member of the Muungano federation. Through the platform, they saw an advertisement for the VCA Next Level Grant on SRHR Climate Responsive. Given that this was their field of interest, they decided to give it a try, and luckily enough, they qualified and were awarded Kshs 200,000.
She further added that with the funds, they intend to address the challenge of poor sanitary towel disposal by making reusable sanitary towels, which are eco-friendly and cheaper compared to single-use pads. The reusable sanitary pads are made of fabric material, making them easy to use and washable. To address the zero-waste slogan, the materials remaining from making the pads are used to make throw pillows, which they sell for Kshs 500.
Caption: Locally made reusable diapers .
Photo credit: Kisumu KYCTV
She also added that with the help of the grant, they have procured two electric sewing machines, materials for making the reusable sanitary towels, and have also trained ten trainers of trainees. They are still calling for support from other well-wishers to help train a larger number of girls, as they are targeting 500 young women. As a group, they are open and ready to work with any like-minded organization or individuals.
In their word of advice and call to action, the group’s treasurer, Ms. Trimoli, highlighted that “Mother Earth is choking, we are suffering from climate change, and the weatherman can no longer predict the weather. Farmers are suffering, hence food insecurity. Let’s all continue conserving the environment by embracing reusable sanitary towels and doing away with single-use pads