3 out of every 10 girls in Sierre Leone miss school when they have their periods, an important factor causing girls to drop out of school altogether. There are a few reasons for this: 1) the girls don't have a hygienic and private place to manage their periods while at school. 2) the girls don't have the right materials, pads and are afraid of the embarrassment of staining their clothes.
Our next project for 2022 is to create girls' cabins at Masantigie and Malimba. The cabin will be equipped with a sink with tapped water to allow them to wash up when needed. There will be areas for them to hang and dry what they need to in privacy. In Malimba, the cabin will be part of the new women's workshop, which will teach valuable skills like sewing to village women and the elder girls of the school. We are also going to provide material and patterns for the community women to sew washable and reusable period underwear for the girls.
The schools are also in collaboration with a local NGO which will provide sexual and menstrual education to the girls.
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