Femme International + Enkijape School
An Update
On January 10th, 2019, after two years of fundraising and advocating for this project, Femme International delivered their Twaweza program to the female students, faculty and staff of the Enkijape School. Just over 200 Femme Kits were delivered initially along with an educational seminar on menstrual and reproductive health in January 2019. In June 2019, Femme International returned for a follow-up, and the impact was outstanding.
All funds (and a little extra) were successfully raised for the Femme + Enkijape project! This project started out as a mere conversation with my mom on the way to touring colleges my sophomore year of high school, and look what it has become! With this money, Femme International educated each eligible female student and staff member at the Enkijape School on Menstrual Hygiene Management, and provided them with sustainable and reusable menstrual hygiene supplies.
I could not have completed this project without the help of you all, my clients, supporting this project financially through booking photoshoots, and through sharing the mission with friends and family.
To each and every person who contributed to this project, I can not express my gratitude to you enough! Please see the gallery below of photos provided by Femme International of their two visits to the Enkijape School. Also included below is a video sent to me by Samar, the Education Director at Big Life. He wrote: "Please, see the attached video clip (I took with an old iPhone) showing Enkijape School students singing a song to you. The theme of the song is friends are good. The students sing about friends who stick closer than a brother/sister and they say they love you. The song is for you." This video is near and dear to my heart, and shows how one idea and a little bit of money can change lives forever.
#EmpoweredWomenEmpowerWomen
February - August 2018
Hello, my name is Georgia Scarborough and I am a senior at Highland School in Warrenton, VA where I am currently in the process of working towards receiving my Global Studies certificate. The Global Studies Certificate program is one unique to Highland School, and is defined as "an experiential, service or academic project demonstrating in-depth knowledge of a global issue or problem". When researching a topic, I knew that I wanted to do something that addressed women's health issues in East Africa, helped Highland School's sister school in Kenya, the Enkijape School, while also educating and empowering women. This combination lead me to discovering the United Nations-declared human right's crisis that is the menstruation taboo. This taboo that surrounds menstruation is most prevalent in East Africa, bringing shame to women throughout the region about their menstruation. Women in Eastern Africa constantly are struggling to make ends meet, and ultimately cannot afford nor have access to feminine hygiene products. Instead, they use alternative absorbents such as old rags and old mattress stuffing. Sometimes women will even go to the extremes as to prosituting themselves for the money to buy feminine hygiene products. Having done my research paper on this subject, and knowing that my sister-students at the Enkijape School were facing these issues, I knew I needed to do something to help them. When researching how to help the Enkijape School with menstrual hygiene management, I cam across the non-profit Femme International.
Femme International is a non-profit organization based out of Canada who are solely focused on breaking down the menstruation taboo in Eastern Africa. Femme International delivers their Twaweza program at schools and communities throughout East Africa .-- its name translating from Swahili to "We Can", because the belief is that we as a society can break the taboo on menstruation. This program is two-fold, including an educational phase, and a distribution phase. The educational phase includes not only an educational seminar on menstruation and the human body, but also provides a platform for women and girls to start the conversation about how to break down gender and menstruation taboos. The distribution phase of the program comes after the educational seminar, when every attendant of the program receives a Femme Kit-- this is a kit which includes a workbook addressing all the information from the educational seminar, a bar of soap with a protective case, either a reusable pad (AFRIPAD) or menstrual cup, and a bowl for cleaning the reusable menstrual product. The reusable menstrual product is the key component of this Femme Kit, and ensures that girls and women will be able to safely manage their menstrual cycles at all times.
Femme International has graciously agreed to bring their Twaweza program to Highland School's sister school in Kenya, the Enkijape School. This program would be life changing for the girls at the Enkijape School. However, this program is costly. With an approximated 210+ female students (above the age of 10), teachers, and staff members at the Enkijape School, and a Femme Kit costing $35 each, providing a Femme Kit for each female member of the Enkijape School would cost approximately $7,000.
So, to raise the funds necessary for this project, from February 2018 to August 2018, 100% of the profits from Little Blue Jay Photography will be put towards this project. I ask that you would consider choosing Little Blue Jay Photography for your spring and summer photography needs; not only for my Global Studies project, but to help the students, teachers, and staff members at the Enkijape School. Ultimately, your money helps support the health and well-being of the women of the Enkijape School, and initiates the change to break the taboo.
Donations to the effort can also be made here.
