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Meet the Board
Meet the Board
MARA CONSERVATION
encouraging empathy for other life
MLP Team in Morocco
Advisors in Morocco
Keeping Girls in School
Putting an End to Period Poverty
The rural Maasai Mara has the highest school drop-out rate in Kenya, and the problem is especially acute for girls. And when a girl drops out of school here, it can mean not only an end to her education and opportunities in life, but also FGM and early forced marriage to an older man.
Girls drop out in greatest numbers during their junior high and early high school years, and it coincides with getting their period. In fact, fewer than 10% of girls here are enrolling in high school, and even fewer make it through. With no materials to manage their monthly cycle, even the most motivated student stays home 4 or 5 days a month, falls behind, and ends up quitting school. Most of the families in the Mara live on a livestock economy and can't afford to buy sanitary products, and it's simply not a priority.
It is heartbreaking to consider that this problem can be so easily addressed with a simple gift of sanitary supplies. At our Oliveseed Women's Work Center, we make high-quality reusable, washable sanitary kits to distribute free to girls in school, and they last up to 3 years. This is a healthy, equitable, economical, and environmentally responsible solution.
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Current Greatest Need: Providing Sanitary Kits for 1150 At-Risk Students
We're partnering with Sekenani Girls High School, a rural school greatly in need in the Maasai Mara. You can join us by giving generously for sanitary kits, and your gift will get right to work. We are so grateful for your support.​
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As of September 2024, we've made and distributed 550 kits at Sekenani. 600 more to go!
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$12 per kit keeps a girl in school by providing supplies and health education, and pays the women who make the kits so they can support their families too. Learn more below on how your donation is applied.
How It's Done
Our sanitary kits are made locally at the Oliveseed Women's Work Center. As a registered Affiliate of the Save a Girl (SaG) program of The Global Uplift Project, we use the SaG patterns and meet their standards, making kits that have proven successful for over 80,000 girls in rural communities around the world, including in Kenya. Our kits are made right in the Maasai community, near Sekenani and other schools.
The women who make these kits are so passionate about this mission and do beautiful work. After all, this is their community. When you give to this project, you're helping both the girls and the women who make the kits — as your gift not only helps the girls stay in school but also puts income in the hands of the women so they can help their families too. The women report that their #1 priority with the income they earn is to keep their children in school, by paying school fees and other costs.
​​A sanitary kit can keep a girl in school for 3 years.
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This is one of the most effective (and cost-effective) ways to keep girls in school. At $12 a kit, $6 is the cost of sewing the items, including paying the seamstress and buying the materials in country; $2 buys additional supplies we provide each girl, including soap, washcloths, and panties; and $4 helps sustain the Women's Work Center, including purchasing and maintaining tools and machines, providing lunch for the women as they work, and keeping the lights on.​
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We give a presentation at schools on health and hygiene when we distribute the kits. The includes dispelling harmful myths, and the schools are very supportive in this.
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All materials are 100% cotton, so they are safe and comfortable. All sourced in Kenya.
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We choose fabrics and accessories that are beautiful, colorful, and varied, so the girls are joyful about receiving their kit. An important part of our program is for girls to feel pride in becoming a woman.
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This is an environmentally responsible solution, as it replaces the use of disposable make-shift period supplies that litter communities and landscapes. ​​​​​​
