My name is Florence Kamaitha,founder of Pad Heaven Initiative.

Currently i am in the University of Texas, Austin for the Young African Leaders, Fellowship programme, and my project is back in Kenya.

Our aim is to decrease female absenteeism from school during their periods  due to lack of sanitary towels.

            

Over 3M girls in Kenya miss out on class  every month because they do not have access to affordable sanitary pads. This means 1 in 10 girls will not attend class. They either fall behind in class  or drop out of school entirely. Some will use unorthodox methods to contain their flow like pieces of rags or chunks of mattresses. These girls grow up with humiliation and low self- esteem.

For families that live on less than $2 dollars a day, sanitary pads are indeed a luxury to some

Well, we have a solution. We are going to produce affordable  towels made from agricultural waste which will not only be cheap, but also environmentally friendly. We produce over 1.4M tonnes of bananas in Kenya, and the stems end up being agricultural waste.

We are asking for ten thousand dollars to create a machine that will turn all these agricultural by-product into an absorbent material that can make sanitary towels that is not only affordable but of good quality and is also eco- friendly.

Access to affordable sanitary towels will keep more girls in class during their periods. It will restore their dignity and self-esteem. The girls will participate in class, take part in extracurricular activities, and their classwork improve. They have a better chance to create a better life for themselves once they finish school. One additional year in school increases a woman’s earnings by 10% - 20%

Please donate, share with your friends and lets keep our girls in class, one pad at a time.