Happy 2012! We’re starting our New Year by getting 1250 Huru Kits to at-risk girls in the Nyanza and Rift Valley Provinces, thanks to a $17,000 grant from the Safaricom Foundation in Nairobi, Kenya. At our first distribution, on January 16, Huru Hero(ine) Pastor Helen Waweru offered HIV/AIDS prevention training to 185 girls at the Ndabibi Primary School in Naivasha. The girls at Ndabibi told Pastor Helen that they’d been using old socks and parts of mattresses because they couldn’t afford sanitary protection. Pastor Helen reports that the need for Huru Kits in this area is still great.
Pastor Helen Hands Huru Kit to Ndabibi Primary Student
Among the girls Huru has reached so far, there’s been a 96% decline in chronic absenteeism, and an 85% improvement in academic performance. Now Pastor Helen is collecting names of other girls in the area who badly need Huru Kits. We resolve to find the funds to get a kit to every girl!
What will you do for World AIDS day? We’re supporting the UN’s Getting to Zero campaign—we’re fighting for zero new HIV infections, period. Join us by donating a Huru Kit to one girl today, and visit us on Facebook or email us (info@huruinternational.org) to tell us your ideas for how Huru can distribute more kits and “Get to Zero” by 2015.
Here are the UN’s Ten Goals for 2015:
Sexual transmission of HIV reduced by half, including among young people, men who have sex with men and transmission in the context of sex work;
Vertical transmission of HIV eliminated and AIDS-related maternal deaths reduced by half;
All new HIV infections prevented among people who use drugs;
Universal access to antiretroviral therapy for people living with HIV who are eligible for treatment;
TB deaths among people living with HIV reduced by half;
All people living with HIV and households affected by HIV are addressed in all national social protection strategies and have access to essential care and support;
Countries with punitive laws and practices around HIV transmission, sex work, drug use or homosexuality that block effective responses reduced by half;
HIV-related restrictions on entry, stay and residence eliminated in half of the countries that have such restrictions;
HIV-specific needs of women and girls are addressed in at least half of all national HIV responses;
Nonprofit Friends of Londiani have joined with an international team of Girl Scout and Girl Guide leaders to form Girls for Girls, a pilot program to provide Huru Kits to 4,500 girls this year. How’s that going? “Before I thought men were more important than women. The programme made me realise that girls are as important, and even more important, than men,” one Huru girl told us with a smile.
The ladies at Dining for Women have a deliciously creative idea—a dinner giving circle, where everyone brings a tasty dish to share for a monthly meal, and pools the extra money that they would have spent at a restaurant. They spend these “leftovers” from hundreds of chapters on great grassroots programs that help women in need all over the world. Stay tuned to learn what’s next on the menu for DfW!
We’re excited to announce that we have partnered with the o.b.® Brand on their viral Share-It-Forward Facebook program. This campaign will help raise up to $25,000 for Huru® International.
Now through December 5, the o.b.® Brand is asking Facebook users to “Like” the mighty. small.™ movement page and “share” a message about our mission on the o.b.® Outreach Tab. For every individual who shares the message with their network of friends, the o.b.® Brand will donate one dollar to our organization.
Will you help us raise $25,000? This could mean delivering 1,000 Huru® Kits to girls in need! To help us reach our goal, visit Facebook.com/obmightysmall to Share-It-Forward.
Why do girls drop out of school? This was a hot topic at Clinton Global Initiative’s 2011 annual meeting. When Babatunde Osotimehin asked girls at Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp, what was stopping them from going to the local schools, at first they talked about needing simple things like stationary and school uniforms. On deeper questioning, the girls admitted that lack of sanitary wear deterred them from going to school. “These are the kinds of issues we don’t talk about publically,” said Geeta Rao Gupta, “and yet they become significant barriers to girls trying to access the kinds of services and opportunities we try to provide….It’s a big reason that girls don’t attend secondary school, but it rarely gets discussed because it’s embarrassing to discuss it.” Osotimehin got cheers when he called out for pads to be provided for 100,000 girls at Dadaab, and Huru’s solution got a shout out from Gary Cohen of CDC. Check out the whole panel online.
Huru Kits have reached 20,000 girls! We are celebrating this milestone by sharing a video of a recent Huru Kit distribution. We hope you love it as much as we do!
Many girls in rural, Western Kenya live in extreme poverty. The Swiss-based NGO help-Khachonge’s projects in the area include building a medical clinic, funding the construction of wells to increase people’s access to clean water, and distributing condoms to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Last summer, help-Khachonge representatives consulted with a District Officer, who said that girls drop out of school at significantly higher rates than boys: “One of the main reasons for withdrawal is limited access to sanitary pads. Having abandoned the traditional use of washable pads for the benefit of modern pads, many find that they are too poor to buy these items, which are too expensive for them. The situation is far too embarrassing for girls, particularly as it is a subject that is not easily discussed in rural Kenya, and many girls simply prefer to stay home from school.”
Keeping girls in school, according to the U.N., is one of the most effective ways to combat poverty and HIV/AIDS worldwide, so help-Khachonge took action—they got in touch with Huru, and held a pilot event to distribute Huru Kits (including safe, reusable sanitary pads, underpants and life-saving HIV/AIDS prevention information) to at-risk local girls this August. The girls loved the kits, and were delighted to know they could stop missing school during their periods. According to help-Khachonge, the summer campaign was “amazingly successful” and covered by local media. They expect to extend this program—a sustainable, ecologically-conscious solution to a complex, chronic problem.
We hope this will be one of many NGO-based Huru Kit distribution pilot programs launched in the new school year! Stay tuned.
Is there a special girl or woman who’s changed your life? Thanks to GlobalGiving, you can honor her by changing a girl’s life and donating to Huru’s GlobalGiving Open Challenge project in her name. We love GlobalGiving, and if we meet their summer challenge (raising $4000 from 50+ independent donors, all before August 31), we’ll earn a permanent Huru page on their website, helping us spread the word about our plan to keep thousands of gifted girls in school. We have 15 days left!
Donate $25—enough to give one at-risk girl a Huru Kit with enough supplies to keep her in school for over one year—as a back-to-school present for your favorite schoolgirl. Donate $50—enough to equip Huru’s distribution staff with a year’s worth of safety supplies—in the name of your mentor, a woman who inspires you to follow your dreams. Donate $75—enough to support peer educators at Huru distribution events—as a birthday gift for your best friend (especially if she has an August birthday!) Donate $100—the cost of materials to make 160 sanitary pads—in the name of your mother, sister, or favorite aunt. Donate $250—enough to cover the cost of hosting a distribution event, which lets us bring Huru Kits and HIV/AIDS prevention information to dozens of at-risk girls—in the memory of a loved one who has passed away, who was very important to you.
