MPESA Foundation has distributed sanitary towels to more than 1000 school girls to help them maintain menstrual hygiene in Kanyamwa in the Ndhiwa constituency.
Many girls from vulnerable families are unable to afford to purchase sanitary towels and this predisposes them to defilement which contributes to teen pregnancies.
The inability to acquire sanitary towels among adolescent girls also makes them susceptible to sex pests who engage them, girls, in sex in change for buying them the material
Statistics reveal that Homa Bay is among the top counties with a high prevalence of teenage mothers. It has 24 percent.
The situation pushed M-Pesa Foundation to provide temporary help by donating to some girls the sanitary materials to help them maintain menstrual hygiene.
The foundation's monitoring and evaluation lead officer Gilbert Ebole said the company has a programme that focuses on prenatal and neonatal health.
In the programme, the company and other non-governmental organizations have come together to help women and girls in the county during pregnancy and postnatal care.
“The project is meant for making women live in dignity. We’re trying to protect girls from early pregnancy,” Ebole said.
Speaking at Okok primary school in Kanyamwa Kologi ward, Ndhiwa, the M-pesa Foundation donated more than 1000 dignity kits to school girls.
A kit contains three packets of sanitary towels, soap, a menstrual awareness booklet and panties which benefits will be used during menses.
The initiative is meant to prevent infections among girls who use other materials to control their menses.
Ebole said it also promotes self-esteem among the beneficiaries.
“Up to 25 per cent of school girls miss school due to periods and this makes them unable to acquire education,” he said.
He said Foundation will help to care for girls.
So far, the foundation has distributed at least 800,000 dignity kits to girls in different schools across the country.
Ndhiwa Sub-county Police Commander Paul Rioba warned parents who collude with sex pest suspects in defilement cases to defeat justice.
He instead urged them to report to relevant authorities to reduce the prevalence.
In some cases, they ensure no one testifies against them in court.
Rioba said poverty is the main challenge influencing the cases.
“Let us all take responsibility to protect our girls because they are our future. We are leading in defilement and teenage pregnancies and it must change because it is not something to be proud of,” Rioba said.
Homa Bay executive for Gender Sarah Malit announced that they have plans to start mentoring teenage girls so they do not fall victim to defilement.
“It’s burdensome when the lives of the future generation are ruined at an early stage. Let’s work together and address the teen pregnancy menace,” she said.
Homa Bay deputy director of Health Amos Dulo proposed to the government to supply free sanitary towels as it does to condoms.
