Statistics from the Kenya Ministry of Education show that while girls and boys enter primary school at about the same rate, girls are more likely to dropout in grades 6–8. This is due to circumstances such as inadequate sanitary facilities, lack of school security, early marriage, the need for household labor on the farm or at home and long walking distances to school, which is more dangerous for girls. The positive effects of keeping girls in school are well documented: higher wages, later age of sexual debut and marriage, better farm productivity and family nutrition, smaller family size, lower infant and maternal mortality, higher rates of school enrollment for future children, and, notably, a reduction of HIV rates.
Through an innovative new partnership with Got Your Back, a non-profit organization that provides school uniforms to children in need, the Lwala Community Alliance has launched a new program to provide school uniforms to schoolgirls in grades 6-8. These uniforms will also be accompanied by packs of reusable menstrual pads. Both the uniforms and the pads will be locally produced by our sewing co-op. At the same time we are working with our partner Blood:Water Mission to provide water access, latrines and hygiene training at the schools. We hope these small incentives will boost girls’ attendance during those critical years.
