Days for Girls*

Imagine you are 16 years old, beautiful, vivacious, fun-loving. Then imagine that for 5-6 days every month you live in shame and anxiety because you have no sanitary way to manage your menstrual cycle. Sadly, this is the plight of millions of females.

Around the world, girls and women resort to using rags, mattress stuffing, banana leaves, feathers, and even cow dung since they have no sanitary napkins or tampons available. In western Nepal, menstruating girls are often isolated to cattle sheds or small huts, as part of a cultural practice called chhaupadi. Not only do they face embarrassment over menstruation, but their lives are endangered by extreme weather, poisonous snakes, and wild animals. In Kenya, many girls are forced to sit in the grass or sand during their monthly periods. Humiliation, danger, and risk of disease are not the only unpleasant results these girls face since missing 25% of school days each month naturally results in a high drop-out rate.

Days for Girls is changing all this by providing a safe, beautiful, washable, and long-lasting alternative — along with vital health education. With their DFG Kits, which include eight washable pads, two liners (pad holders), underwear, a bag for soiled pads, soap, a wash cloth and instructions on use, they are giving girls back days of dignity, health, and opportunity. Can’t envision it? Go to YouTube and search on Days for Girls kits and watch a 5-minute video on how the kits are assembled.

*In September, 2018, teenage girls in the 12 orphanages supported by Serving in Jesus’ Name received 150 Days for Girls Kits.  Our partners on the ground in Kenya provide training to the girls along with the message that they are awesomely and wonderfully made by God (Psalm 139:14) and beautiful in His sight.

The girls were naturally elated to receive these gifts, which will bless them in so many ways, providing freedom of movement, dignity, and cleanliness. Praise God for His provision for these beautiful, blossoming young women and for the Days for Girls Organization that has given dignity to millions of women worldwide. Pictured below are some of the girls in the Imani and Upendo Orphanages in Nairobi, Kenya.