• Some girls from poor families started trading sex for pads after schools were closed.
• Nyeri quintet started distributing dignity packs to save them from falling into the trap.
Image: EUTYCAS MUCHIRI
Before the coronavirus pandemic hit the country, learners would receive free sanitary towels in school from the government.
The programme was started in June 2017 after President Uhuru Kenyatta signed into law a Bill to amend the Basic Education Act.
Since then, the government has been providing free sanitary towels to every girl who has reached puberty and is registered and enrolled in a public basic education institution.
But the supply was discontinued after schools were shut down as one of the measures to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Their only hope was their parents, many of whom live from hand to mouth.
Some girls from poor families started selling their bodies for Sh50 in what is known as ‘sex for pads’.
Nyeri was no exception, and the media reports touched five female teachers, who started an initiative called 'Support a Girl' to fight the practice.
The five are Mary Mwangi of Kihuyo Secondary School, Doris Mwangi (Njeng’u Secondary School), Dorcas Ruthiga (Mukurwe-ini Boys' School) and Hellen Gatero (Muruguru Girls' School).
Their spokesperson Mary Mwangi said on Saturday the teachers were guided by their motherly instinct to help the students, who are at home and idle.
“We came up with a mentorship programme, where we have been talking to our girls, while at the same time trying to restore their dignity by buying them sanitary towels,” said Mwangi, who is also a counsellor.
“We agreed to come up with a dignity pack, where we give them a three-month supply of sanitary towels, reusable panties and toilet papers so they are not misused by men out there in the name of having sex for pads.”
Other than the dignity packs, they also give the girls sex education.
Mwangi said the minors must be informed of what is happening in the community and must be able to say no to sex until they are of age.
The teachers have been targeting upper primary school pupils, high school, college and university students.
They fund the initiative’s activities from their own savings and reach out to friends and family members.
They have partnered with Kiini Initiative in the provision of reusable pants with a lifeline of three years.
Mwangi said early marriages have been taking place in Nyeri, despite people denying it happens.
“Early sex and marriages are still happening in the society, especially this time of coronavirus pandemic. Girls have eloped and we hope the government will work on it,” she said.
She blamed parents for neglecting their responsibilities, saying the girls claim their parents have left them to cater for their sanitary towels expenses, which they cannot afford.
This has forced the girls to approach men for the money in exchange for sex.
Mwangi called on parents to be talking with their girls and providing them with what they need now that they are out of school.
“So we are trying to address this issue and we are also talking to our parents so that when a girl asks for a pad, the way we respond to them will determine a lot in what they are going to do to get that pad,” she said.
Image: EUTYCAS MUCHIRI
Funding has been the teachers' biggest problem since they started the initiative six months ago, especially when a big number of girls attend their events and they have to provide everyone with the dignity pack.
There is also the political aspect of it, where in some constituencies, they are branded as campaigners of certain politicians and encounter some resistance.
They have, however, been able to counter this by involving the National Government Administrative Officers, such as chiefs and their assistants.
The teachers are happy that they have been able to reach over 1,000 girls with the initiative after visiting every constituency, and they are now planning to go for the second round.
Mwangi’s advice to girls is that there is always a better tomorrow. She calls on them to be patient as there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
She says the initiative will continue even after schools resume, and will be dynamic and flexible to adapt to the needs of the girl child in the community.
Edited by T Jalio