Gerri J
WST 4023
Service Learning Final
Paper.
Days for Girls
International (DFGI) serves girls and women of childbearing age in poverty who
suffer from lack of access to sanitation wherever they are. However we have to
get it to them. DFGI partner with NGO's to get sanitary kits into the hands of
those who need them in the most effective manner possible, saving duplication
of efforts. We recognize that rather than incurring unnecessary expenses we can
focus on solutions and utilize existing networks. We establish best practices
for micro-enterprise and community programs with trusted NGO's to enable women
to make their own kits for the communities they live in, providing much needed
supply and employment. We apply what we learn to partner with worldwide NGO's
and nations to replicate the programs, with the goal of enabling millions of
women to turn oppression into opportunity.
Mission Statement:
Days for Girls
International provides sustainable means and education for impoverished women
worldwide to be productive every day of every month. No woman should have to go
without access to quality sanitary hygiene.
Mission:
Days for Girls
International is a grassroots 501(c) 3 non-profit creating a more dignified,
humane and sustainable world for girls through advocacy, reproductive health
awareness, education and sustainable feminine hygiene because no girl should go
without. Women and girls discover their potential and self-value, are equal
participants and agents of social change and are given opportunities to thrive,
grow and contribute to their community's betterment while ensuring quality
sustainable feminine hygiene.
Vision:
Every girl and woman in
the world with ready feasible access to quality sustainable hygiene &
health education by 2022.
The Plan:
Speak up. Every girl in
the world deserves education, safety, and dignity. We further this goal by
helping girls who would otherwise go without to have access to quality
sustainable feminine hygiene and awareness. We accomplish this through both
direct distribution with many nonprofits, by raising awareness, by helping
other organizations start their own programs and importantly, by helping
impoverished communities start their own programs to supply kits and training.
It's working!
Summary of research and
project:
Over the last decade or
so, it has become increasingly evident that one reason girls in Africa drop out
of school is menstruation. They don’t have hygiene supplies, and they’re
embarrassed about what might happen during their periods, so they stay home.
That leaves them more and more behind, and eventually they drop out.
Some aid groups, such
as the Campaign for Female Education, now distribute pads and underwear to
girls as part of the effort to increase female attendance in high schools. But
pads are expensive and there are issues with disposal of them, partly because
of taboos about blood.
The increasingly
widespread belief in the global development community that one way to help high
school girls in poor countries stay in school is to help them manage menstruation.
There’s anecdotal evidence that girls stay home during their periods (because
of a lack of hygiene products and underwear, as well as embarrassment, cramps
and taboos). Then they get further and further behind and eventually drop out.
If that’s true, then interventions to address this would be a cost-effective
way of keeping girls in school.
In the struggle to
figure out how to get more girls in poor countries in school, there are a
zillion strategies. Building more schools, offering free school lunches, or
sacks of grain to families of girls with perfect attendance for a month. Iodine
supplements so that fetal girls don’t suffer iodine deficiency (which seems to
retard their mental development more than it does boys’).
In recent years, there
also have been increasing suggestions that one of the reasons girls in Africa
and Asia miss school is that they have trouble managing menstruation. The idea
is that they don’t have decent sanitary products and so stay home during their
periods and then get further and further behind and finally drop out. It’s
considered an indelicate topic and so there’s not much discussion of this — and
my attempts at interviews have sometimes horrified my interpreters — but my
impression is that there’s something there. I’ve read from a number of sources that
this from a number of development organizations, that helps girls with
sanitation supplies and finds it helps keep girls in school. Other groups have
also been trying this strategy.
The poverty cycle can
be broken when girls stay in school. An innovative solution has proven to be
key - sustainable feminine hygiene she can count on. With it, she can avoid
infection, shame, exploitation, early marriage, and even trafficking. Our
support of this project provides girls quality washable sanitary pads and
important reproductive health, hygiene, self-defense and sewing training.
Girls, families and communities are empowered as leaders and sewing
cooperatives gain income and skills.
What is the issue,
problem, or challenge?
Millions of
impoverished girls face days with no access to safe feminine hygiene solutions.
Girls turn to unsanitary methods of feminine hygiene including leaves, bark,
newspapers, rocks and corn cobs, and in some cases allow themselves to be
exploited out of desperation for supplies. According to the Ministry of
Education for these African countries, the provision of safe feminine hygiene
solutions directly decreases dropout rates for girls that have reached
menstruation.
How will this project
solve this problem?
Girls will receive
hygiene kits they can count on for 3 years. Women and girls learn to make kits
via a network of volunteer Ambassadors of Women's Health who distribute and
provide health training, while also training local sewing cooperatives and
schoolgirls to make kits themselves. In addition to the personal benefits of
receiving a kit, the community economy is enriched as training, tools, and
capital become dedicated to expanding access to feminine hygiene solutions.
Potential Long Term
Impact
Girls remain in school
allowing them to have access to continuous education and sustainable solutions.
This effects current and future generations of women and men, playing an
imperative role in breaking the cycle of poverty. Communities are empowered to
discuss and provide feminine hygiene, health and sanitation for themselves and
others. One woman recently said, "It is as if it is taboo to be a
woman." This program changes that with simple, direct and effective
solutions that empower.
The “Help Needy Girls
Stay in School” project is a girl child assistance program that provides girls
in impoverished areas with sanitary towels to help them stay in school even
during their monthly cycle.
The objective is:
“To help needy girls go
to school without worrying about their monthly cycle.”
Our educational efforts
are being hampered by girls lacking sanitary towels and from the statistics
below:
• A girl absent from
school due to menses for 4 days in 28 days (a month) loses 13 learning days
equivalent to 2 weeks of learning in every school term.
• In a year (9 months)
a girl loses 39 learning days equivalent to 6 weeks of learning time. A girl in
primary school between grades 6 and 8 (3 years) loses 18 learning weeks out of
108 weeks.
• Within the 4 years of
high school the same girl loses 156 learning days equivalent to almost 24 weeks
out of 144 weeks of learning in High school!!
• This is a clear
indication that a girl child is a school drop-out while still in school
These goals would
provide the girls with an uninterrupted education; encourage cleanliness, which
would in turn promote confidence and self- esteem.
“Help Needy Girls Stay
in School ” campaign will help us identify and work with vulnerable and
impoverished girls, while availing them with a year supply of sanitary towels
so as to educate and empower the girls to ensure a brighter future for them.
This initiative will
equip the girls with an all-round education which will help them serve as role
models and agents of change in their local environments. It would also empower
them and improve their status in their individual families and communities. A
recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
proved that girls can perform very well academically, if given the same
opportunities and encouragement. The target for distribution includes rural
schools, orphanages and urban low income households among others.
In a situation where
girls across the country often have no money to buy sanitary pads, or have to
use money that would have gone for food or other necessities, girls are
frequently compelled to miss school when they are menstruating. Over time,
these absences can put girls further and further behind in their classes and
can ultimately contribute to their decision to drop out of school entirely,
thus increasing their risk of sexual violence, HIV/AIDS infection, and
longer-term health and economic consequences. Some girls, in an effort to
scrape together enough money for sanitary pads and to stay in school, will go
so far as to exchange sex for money, clearly high risk behavior with huge
implications for their safety and their health.
Girls remain woefully
outnumbered in African schools. They make up nearly 60 percent of the children
who should be in school but in fact don't attend. Part of the problem is
economic, but much of the reason remains rooted in societies that undervalue
girls and, in some cases, abuse them. These problems are prevalent in Malawi,
but there's some progress as well.
In Africa, it's said if
you educate a man, you educate an individual. When you educate a woman, you
educate a nation. Still, in Africa, two-thirds of the children who should be in
school but are not are girls. Part of the problem is economic and part
resulting from a society only beginning to focus on the needs of girls.
The problem of girls'
education is an issue in most countries in Africa, indeed, in developing
countries. Because of the low status of women in our societies, I think the
girls' education is not always valued.
Girls’ education:
A basic right and a key
to development Education is a basic human right for all children. This was recognized
over 60 years ago in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, acknowledged
and agreed to by many governments across the world. However, in Africa millions
of children, particularly girls, are still denied the right to education and
are unable to access the knowledge, skills and capabilities necessary to take
an empowered and equal role in society. This violation of basic rights is
unjust and must be changed.
In addition to being an
intrinsic human right, research has consistently demonstrated that education,
particularly girls’ education, is one of the most effective means of
development, not only for girls themselves but for their families, communities
and wider society. Educating girls improves maternal health, reduces child
mortality, raises levels of household nutrition, and increases the potential
workforce and opportunities for economic growth.
1. Tackling barriers to
girls’ education is thus central to addressing the root causes of poverty. So
why is it that across Africa girls is still less likely than boys to enroll and
remain in school?
Why, in 47 out of 54
African countries, do girls have less than a 50% chance of going to secondary
school?
2. And why, even whilst
at school, do girls continue to face discrimination and abuse which threatens
to undermine the potentially trans-formative power of the education they
receive?
Plan’s goal is to
ensure that girls enroll and complete at least 9 years of quality education in
a safe and supportive community environment and acquire the skills they need to
lead healthy and productive lives. As the Because I am a Girl Theory of Change
shows, this requires a focus on both overcoming barriers to girls’ education,
and empowering girls through developing their assets and capabilities:
Because I am a Girl -
Theory of Change Principal Duty Bearers to achieve changes in institutional
support for girls’ rights (laws, policies, services). Moral Duty Bearers to achieve
family and community support for girls’ rights (social structures in which
families and communities operate)
Rights Holders to
achieve improvements in the lives of girls (social position and condition of
girls), the right to education is entrenched in international human rights
treaties, and commitments to girls’ education have been made in a number of
international and regional agreements and frameworks, ratified by the majority
of African states.
The policy context:
The right to education
is entrenched in international human rights treaties, and commitments to girls’
education have been made in a number of international and regional agreements
and frameworks, ratified by the majority of African states. Many African states
have introduced national policies to enact their commitments to girls’
education under these international and regional frameworks. Policies aiming
for the achievement of universal primary education and the removal of school
fees are common across the continent. In some cases girls’ education has been
explicitly addressed in separate policies such as Kenya’s Gender Policy in
Education and Liberia’s National Policy on Girls’ Education.
Despite the existence
of such policies, Plan’s research shows public awareness of government policies
and initiatives around girls’ education remains very low. In Ghana only 30% of parents surveyed were
aware of government efforts to support girls’ secondary education, whilst in
Liberia only 51% of parents knew of the government’s education policies and
initiatives related to girls.
This inevitably impacts
on the efficacy of policies, particularly where entrenched community values
conflict with policy statements, such as around the readmission of pregnant
schoolgirls after childbirth. There are also persistent concerns over the
capacity of governments at all levels to disseminate, implement and monitor
education policies. Inadequate resources are repeatedly cited by key
stakeholders as a core challenge in this.
Studies suggest that
such resource issues are currently being exacerbated by global financial
constraints which are pressurizing long term, poor development budgets in favor
of short term, growth centered budgetary decisions.
Beyond basic
resourcing, the weakness of monitoring and enforcement mechanisms is not only
hampering the implementation of policies and initiatives to support girls’
education, but also failing to ensure girls’ basic protection from abuse and
harassment within schools.
GMM
The Girls Making Media
project’s goal is to contribute to the elimination of gender discrimination and
benefits at least 140 adolescent girls and 30 adult journalists in the most
marginalized areas in each country. With this project, girls and adult
journalists are trained on various topics aiming at increasing their capacity
to produce quality information concerning girls’ rights. It is also empowering
girls to advocate on issues concerning their well-being.
They are trained to produce
quality information concerning girl’s rights, which empower the girls to
address issues such as gender discrimination and gender violence. 50% of the
population is female yet women’s issues and rights are sweep under the carpet
because men don’t think they are important. With this program girls are given
the opportunity to discuss these issues and then give back to their community.
They are given training
in broadcasting for a radio station, computer training that introduces them to
the WWW, and cover issues concerning gender bases issues. They are taught that
having a voice is empowering, and they are not alone.
Reflection:
This has been a very enlighten
project for me to take on. I am so easy for women to go down to the grocery
store and pick up a box of menstrual pads, come home and dispose of these
products after use without really thinking about how good we have it. While
girls in Africa are not so lucky; I grew up at a time when for years the
subject of women’s body just in general is not something that is talked about.
This leads to the attitude about menstruation and vaginal health being a “dirty”
subject. Many people come from backgrounds where none of these things are
talked about and everyone is just to follow the paths already given to them.
This information being presented is empowering for women and for forging a new
path for future women.
I had the unfortunate luck to having a
mother who would not discuss anything pertaining my period or heaven forbid my
vagina or sexual health. Most of my knowledge has come from personal experience
and research. Having a safe place for these girls to get necessary items for
their menstrual cycles I am happy to participate.
I started this project wanting to make 200 liners,
and now reaching the end of the semester I find
that I am half way there. Helping 25 girls is
amazing but I am going to spend the next two weeks
finishing my goal. With no classes or studying I
should be able to finish no problem. I started
this project feeling sorry for these girls, but
after investigating the issues I no longer look on this
nation with pity. I know see a sense of strength in
these women of Africa and feel strongly that
they along with these menstrual kits will continue
in school and make a difference in their
communities.
In Africa, it's said if
you educate a man, you educate an individual. When you educate a woman, you
educate a nation. Still, in Africa, two-thirds of the children who should be in
school but are not are girls. Part of the problem is economic and part
resulting from a society only beginning to focus on the needs of girls.
WORKS CITED
"Human Development Report". United Nations
Development Programme. 2013. p. 156.
Kearney, Mary Celeste. Girls Make Media. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, New
York, 2006.
Mazzarella, Sharon R. Girl Wide Web. Peter Lang
Publishing Inc., New York, 2010
Senft, Theresa m.
CamGirls Celebrity & Community in the age of social networks. Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York, 2008.
