Dear Priscilla,

To buy menstrual pads and stay in school, members of GSGC-sponsored Isepe Girls Club in Mwandi, Zambia had to prepare and sell corn. 

“We finished shelling the maize which had remained in the granary, sold some and managed to buy (underwear) and sanitary pads for some of my vulnerable girls,” Mentor Pestrida Muleya said recently.   

In some African communities, 66% to 95% of girls miss school each month when they get their period. That amounts to a stunning 10-20 percent of a year’s learning. 

Access to the same education boys receive is crucial. If a girl finishes secondary school, she is more likely to marry later, have fewer children, avoid domestic abuse and earn more over her lifetime, helping lift her family out of poverty.  

GSGC-sponsored Mentors educate the girls — and boys — in their clubs about menstruation and menstrual hygiene, keeping girls healthy and helping boys understand and respect this natural function. The topics, too often dismissed or hidden, are foundational to each club, GSGC’s tenets and our community’s goals. 

At Sisonke Girls Club in rural Monde, Zimbabwe, Mentor Talent Muyambo focused on the issues as the girls gathered outside.

Mentor Talent Muyambo (r) and her girls discussing menstrual hygiene  

“Most girls highlighted that their parents could not afford to buy them sanitary pads each month,” she said. “As an alternative, they use pieces of clothes and some don’t attend school. We ended the meeting by demonstrating how to use sanitary pads and distributing them to the girls.” 

At Rise N’ Shine outside Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, girls recently began learning how to sew reusable pads, following in the pad-making footsteps of Project Luangwa in Mfuwe, Zambia. 

Project Luangwa girls celebrate Menstrual Hygiene Day in Mfuwe, Zambia  

Hygiene products always will be needed. Girls always will need to be educated. When you support Global Sojourns Giving Circle, you help keep girls supplied and in the classroom. You help put girls on a more equal footing with boys, giving girls agency over their bodies, greater dignity and wider opportunities. 

We invite you to join us and GSGC-sponsored Mentors in the worldwide effort to end period poverty. Let’s keep girls in school — all month long!  

Many thanks,

Holley Gilbert,

Board member, and the GSGC Team   

We are a 501(c)(3) registered organization, so your donation could be tax-deductible. You also can donate stock; read alternatives to donating cash to GSGC. 

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