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Huru International Inc
Huru International's mission is to provide at-risk girls in Africa with reusable menstrual pads combined with sexual and reproductive health and life skills workshops so that they can stay in school, remain healthy, and have brighter futures.
Huru International provides vulnerable girls and young women in Africa with the means to manage their periods by producing and distributing kits containing reusable menstrual pads and other necessary health and hygiene resources. Huru aims to reduce rates of menstruation-related absenteeism and drop-out among girls, who routinely miss as much as a full month of school each year because they cannot afford to buy menstrual pads during their periods. Providing these reusable menstrual kits widens access to the resources and knowledge young girls need to develop healthy, sustainable and economically secure futures.
We first met Anastacia in May of this year at a Huru distribution. She didn’t have access to menstrual pads, telling us she used pieces of old clothes during her period and didn’t feel comfortable asking her mom for money.
Quickly, we realized that Anastacia’s needs went beyond needing pads for her period. She and her 5 siblings are being raised by a single mother who was struggling to find consistent work to support her children. Unfortunately, as a result, none of the six kids were enrolled in school. When Anastacia had to drop out due to the unaffordable school fees in 2019, she was crushed.
But Anastacia’s resilient, and she had bigger plans for her life.
She went out and found a school in her neighborhood of Mukuru kwa Reuben that she could enroll, but she could not afford at the time. So, she took matters into her own hands and she looked for jobs. She started helping businesses dispose of their trash by walking it to the dumping sites. With the little money that she earned, she bought the family food and put some into savings. Eventually, she was able to buy herself a dress for school with the hopes of returning to the classroom someday.
After months of hard work and dedication, Anastacia is finally back in school!
After meeting Anastacia in May, one of Huru’s community health workers, Vivian, continued to stay in touch with her and encouraged her to never give up. Ultimately, with Vivian’s encouragement, she saved enough money to enroll in the local school, and she’s back to chasing her dreams of becoming a nurse.
“I was very worried about my education. I could not stand seeing my friends go to school while I was at home working. I was lucky to have joined the Huru sessions and met people with big hearts like Vivian who made sure I went back to school. Thank you Huru for the support of menstrual pads and the education sessions. Your advice of not giving up kept me going. I never lost hope. I am now safe and ready to study in peace, and I am sure I will excel!”
These are the stories we live for. Not only is Anastacia back in school, but she’s equipped with Huru pads to support her for the next 2+ years. Thanks to the generosity of Huru donors, nothing will stop her now.
Financials
Programs
Community-Led Menstrual Health & Hygiene Sessions
Lacking complete information about menstruation and/or the means to purchase menstrual products, millions of adolescent girls and young women in Sub-Saharan Africa use unsanitary alternatives like used pads, mattress filling, or leaves to manage their periods. When these substitutes don't work, they stain their clothes, and suffer public embarrassment/shame. Many girls skip school during their periods, which over time can cause insurmountable disruption in academic studies and lead them to abandon school altogether. Also, when girls lack accurate information about their bodies and sexual and reproductive health as a whole, they can become more vulnerable to gender-based violence and STIs, including HIV/AIDS, perpetuating cycles of gender inequality and stigma in communities.
Huru’s program leverages menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) as an effective point-of-entry, which enables us to deploy a range of interventions that highlight issues surrounding health and well-being, gender-based violence, HIV/AIDS prevention, and more. This holistic, grassroots model reaches not just girls, but also boys, parents, teachers, and community leaders. This program has proven to be very effective over the years, as it instils a sense of shared ownership, creates a sustainable network of local allies, provides on-going support and resources for girls and young women in the community.
Building these lasting, community-driven solutions is central to how Huru implements programs across Sub-Saharan Africa. These interventions were built with the health and well-being of at-risk, disadvantaged girls and young women as its primary focus.
Mitigating Unemployment with Essential Skills Training for Young Women in Kenya
In 2018, Huru expanded the scope of its mission in Kenya to provide additional support for young women who are disproportionately impacted by the country’s high rates of unemployment and very low-income jobs. Huru's Skills Development Program aims at helping these women find a means toward economic stability, employment, financial independence, and a better sense of overall well-being and optimism toward their future.
Putting the needs of the women and local industry realities at the center of the solution design, Huru’s Skills Development Program has equipped young women in Nairobi with essential, in-demand job skills and basic business acumen to pursue the most desirable employment pathway – be it a higher wage job with regulated, established employers in the textile sector or starting a local tailoring business.
Huru’s Skills Development Program is a 4-month intensive conducted on-site at our Nairobi facility and covers:
• developing industrial garment production skills
• building effective communication and interview skills to support entry into the job market
• preparing and facilitating trainees to take the National Industrial Training Authority (NITA) exam to increase their employability
• supporting students' overall well-being with lessons on business, finance, entrepreneurship, and sexual and reproductive health
• providing trainees with basic living allowance to aid retention and course completion
By providing young women with marketable skills and the tools they need to safeguard their well-being, this training program acts as a gateway toward economic and personal independence.
Volunteering + Events
Join The Cycle
The Cycle, our community of monthly donors, offers the opportunity for you to support girls and their periods year-round. Our goal is for members to feel directly connected to their monthly impact.
We hold a dedicated monthly distribution with The Cycle’s donations.
Members receive just one email each month with stories and photos from their distribution and special updates from the field.
