Tunaweza (Kiswahili
We Can Do It!): Girls Helping themselves in East Africa
This entry has been selected as a finalist in the
Sport for a Better World competition.
Project Street Address
Project City
Project Province/State
Project Postal/Zip Code
Project Country
Sport
Soccer
Year the initative began (yyyy)
2007
YouTube Upload
Project URL (include HTTP://)
Which of these barriers is the primary focus of your work?
Stereotyping that excludes
Which of the principles is the primary focus of your work?
Include through sport
If you believe some other barrier or principle should be included in the mosaic, please describe it and how it would affect the positioning of your initiative in the mosaic:
This field has not been completed
Name Your Project
Tunaweza (Kiswahili: We Can Do It!): Girls Helping themselves in East Africa
Describe Your Idea
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence?
To produce and market sanitary pads using local technology, targeting girls and young women who play, or want to play, sport in East Africa
Describe your innovation. What makes your idea unique and different than others doing work in the field?
Two organizations, Moving the Goalposts (Kenya) (MTG) and The Kids League (Uganda) (TKL) and a school, the only girls’ secondary school in the remote town of Marsabit, Kenya have come together to tackle a huge problem facing girls and women in East Africa. That problem is menstruation. Many girls and women cannot access affordable and hygienic sanitary protection; instead, they use pieces of cloth, cotton wool, or other materials, which can be unhygienic and inconvenient. This means adolescent girls miss days of school and are less likely to participate in sports.
MTG, TKL and Marsabit girls will use technology developed by Professor Musaazi of Makerere University in Uganda to produce affordable sanitary pads to be made available to girls and young women in East Africa. They are currently at the stage of carrying out feasibility studies for the initiative. This social enterprise aims to help girls attend school regularly, play sports and provide income and employment.
What are the existing barriers, the biggest problem, your innovation is hoping to address/change?
Of the 15,000 youth in The Kids League, only 25% are girls. Research has shown that one of the reasons for so few girls participating is the lack of affordable sanitary pads. One beneficiary of MTG explained that “I don’t play football when I have my period because my blood flow is heavy and I use a piece of cloth which I’m afraid might fall as I play. Sometimes my friends help me, they give me sanitary pads and then I play.’
Delivery Model: How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing?
TKL, MTG and Marsabit came together with Professor Musaazi in December, 2007 to discuss the way forward for feasibility studies. The sanitary pads developed by Professor Musaazi are made from papyrus grass. This is readily available in Uganda but less available in Kenya. ICIPE (International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology) has agreed to investigate the availability of papyrus grass, or alternative raw materials, in Kenya. If the innovation is feasible it will be implemented as social enterprises, employing local young women, in all three locations. We plan to include information on reproductive health, hygiene, HIV/AIDS, sports etc in the packets of sanitary pads. This innovation, therefore, will not only provide affordable sanitary pads. It will also encourage the participation of girls in sports and provide essential information and social support to vulnerable teenage girls in East Africa.
How do you plan to grow your innovation?
There will always be a demand for sanitary protection for women and girls. All three partners in this initiative work with thousands of young girls and women. It is expected that initial production will aim to supply affordable pads to girls who are in schools where MTG is active and to out of school girls involved in their programmes. In Marsabit the initial target group is girls in secondary school while in TKL the focus is on girls in camps for internally displaced people and girls who participate in their country wide sports programmes.
If this initial social enterprise proves profitable and successful in reaching its social objectives it can be expanded in all three locations. All the organizations have very strong ties with the Ministry of Education and could develop a partnership with the ministry to distribute sanitary pads through school and local outlets.
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact.
More girls attending school regularly and exercising their right to participate in sports in East Africa
What impact has your innovation had to date/or what is your intended impact? Exactly who are the beneficiaries?
This is a new innovation which has grown out of a recognition of the need for girls and young women in East Africa to access affordable sanitary protection if they are to attend school and play sports. Our intended impact is to produce sanitary pads, which also include useful information for girls on health, sports, safe sex and HIV/AIDS. Girls and women in East Africa will benefit by having more hygienic sanitary wear. A number of girls and young women will benefit from being employed within the social enterprises. This will give them a regular income and economic independence to build their lives and that of their families. The organizations will also benefit by using the profit to develop more social sports activities and programmes to serve their beneficiaries. This will make them stronger indigenous organizations that are less reliant on donor funding and more sustainable.
How many people have you served directly?
We plan to serve 5000 girls and young women in first year by providing them with affordable sanitary pads. However we hope to ba able to scale up the social enterprise once it is established.
How many people have you served indirectly?
TKL serves 15,000 young people in Uganda while MTG has nearly 3000 girl members in Kilifi district in Kenya. Marsabit girls school has over 300 pupils.
Please list any other measures reflective of the impact of your innovation?
This field has not been completed
What are the main barriers to creating or achieving your impact?
For MTG the main barrier is a lack of capacity to implement a social enterprise. However TKL has more experience in this field and will share their skills. For TKL their main barrier is the lack of girls participating in sports. MTG can assist as it has mobilized thousands of girls to participate in football. For Marsabit the main barrier is its remote location. People travel for two days, hitching lifts on lorries, to reach the capital city,Nairobi.
This Entry is about (Issues)
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)?
Ford Foundation financed the initial meeting in Kenya in December 2007. NESsT has provided technical expertise on social enterprise. Each organization will support their own feasibility study and the next meeting in April, 2008. If the intiative has been proven to be feasible the group will look for funding for start up costs.
If known, provide information on your finances and organization.
This information is for MTG only:
5.500.000 Kenyan shillings
Annual revenue generated: 5.500.000 Kenyan Shillings
Five full time staff, four part time staff (all women)
Volunteers (all girls and young women): 30 peer educators, 5 Montioring and Evaluation volunteers, 120 field committee members, 37 referees, 17 first aiders, 90 coaches, 1 international volunteer
Advisory board in Kilifi, board in United Kingdom
Support from local, national, international organizations, schools and government
Local, national and international donor support
What is the potential demand for your innovation?
The potential demand in huge. If the organizations can produce a product that is competitive in the market in East Africa they could develop a business to supply markets throughout the region. As a unique product that provides not only sanitary pads but information on reproductive health to contribute to the well being of young women in East Africa it has the potential to appeal to government ministries and donor agencies as well as individual young women.
What are the main barriers to financial sustainability?
Accessing initial start-up capital and developing a competitive product that is profitable. However this can be done by getting the idea out into the public sphere, such as through Changemakers, so that potential supporters for start-up can hear about our initiative. Recruiting people who have good business and/or social enterprise experience will also be essential in ensuring the financial sustainability.
What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story.
This is a story of committed people in East Africa coming together to try and find a local solution to a local problem. TKL got to know Professor Musaazi and his sanitary pads technology through being based in Kampala. MTG and Marsabit were introduced to him through the Ford Foundation. After much consultation a meeting was held in December 2007 where it was agreed it would be better if we all worked together to try and make this a viable social enterprise to help girls in East Africa stay in school and exercise their right to play sports.
In the cases of MTG and TKL this innovation will demonstrate the power of sports to bring about social change. MTG is managed by young women from Kilifi. They often demonstrate that they have the most innovative solutions to their problems, if they are given a chance to voice their ideas. At a strategic planning meeting in Kilifi in 2007 girls mentioned a lack of sanitary pads as their main problem again and again. It stops them from going to school and it stops them from playing sport. It can also expose them to risky sexual situations: a number of girls in MTG talked about girls having transactional sex so that they could afford sanitary pads, soap etc. We have the power to resolve this problem by developing local social enterprises which will improve the safety and well being of girls and young women.
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material.
This idea is about many people in East Africa: Eunice and Halima from Marsabit, who traveled for three days for the first meeting in December 2007, Professor Musaazi for his brilliant innovation, Carla from Ford Foundation for inspiring and pushing us, Loic from NESsT for his expertise and enthusiasm, Emma, Tasha, Trevor and Ann from TKL and Margaret, Lidya and all the girls who play football in MTG. Together Tunaweza! (We can do it!)
How did you hear about this contest and what is your main incentive to participate? (this is confidential)
I heard about this contest while at the Next Step conference in Namibia in September 2007. I was initially unsure about whether to participate because we are based in Kilifi, a remote part of Kenya and we have very poor internet access. However with the post election violence and political unrest in Kenya after the completely flawed elections I felt it was essential to participate to show the world that there are people in Kenya, and East Africa, who remain fully committed to making it a better place. I am British but I’ve lived in Kenya for 7 years with my Kenyan husband and our two beautiful daughters. I am the founder of Moving the Goalposts but the organization is now run by some very impressive young Kenyan women. In these difficult political times their stories must be heard and their efforts supported to make Kenya a more just and equitable country.
Affiliation (please list all that apply)
This field has not been completed
Take action: |
||
|
share this entry |
add to favorites |
|
|
discuss |
||
Quick Translate:
This Entry is about:
Links:
- 895 reads