Twenty five schools from Wajir on Tuesday Morning received a donation of sanitary pads from their alumni and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Speaking at Wajir Girls Secondary where school heads from over 25 schools received donations of pads, the Wajir East Sub-County Director of Education Nur Ibrahim applauded the effort by Siyad Foundation and urged the girls to roll up their sleeves and work hard in their studies.
"Girls performed better than boys in the last year's KCSE exams, that is an indication that girl child education is thriving in Northern Kenya; therefore we urge our students to work hard in school," Nuur said.
Amina Abdi, an official from Siyad Foundation who led the exercise, said that adolescent girls face challenges that may compromise their chances of completing school or their sexual and reproductive health.
These challenges can be further complicated by girls’ feelings of shame about their bodies, in particular about menstruation, or their lack of sanitary products to help them manage menstruation.
"Twenty five schools from Wajir East and Tarbaj will benefit from the first batch of the donation; the organisation will further push the donations to all the sub counties. I am a former student of Wajir Girls Secondary School and I know the pain girls go through; therefore I want to encourage our girls not to worry much about sanitary pads as we will donate to all schools as we continue changing lives of our girls," Amina said.
Her sentiments were echoed by the principal of Frontier Girls School, Ali Bash, who thanked the foundation for the noble programme.
Studies have found that giving out sanitary pads to girls leads to a significant reduction in sexually transmitted infections and bacterial vaginosis.
Providing a girl with underwear and sanitary pads may increase her chances of staying in school by more than 30 per cent, studies show.