Lerne Adams Red Pride

Lerne Adams Foundation is informed by the need to improve knowledge on menstrual health, the need to improve access to menstrual health management products and services, the need to expand reach of menstrual health management services, the need to promote open conversation on menstrual health and the need to promote innovation in menstrual health management Based on these needs, the project seeks to involve community members in addressing these gaps. Community influencers (Community Health Workers and Youth Peer Providers (YPPs), Retail shop owners and ‘Boda’ Girls in creating awareness and educating  the public on menstrual health management through face to face meetings and use of a digital health app; distribute menstrual health products; address misconceptions by promoting open conversation on menstrual health management through youth targeting activities and involving male members of the community as menstrual health management champions; and setting up a community based enterprise for local production and sale of reusable pads

COMMUNITY NEEDS

The project is informed by the following needs:

The need to improve knowledge on menstrual health

Education plays a key role in menstrual health management including overcoming false beliefs and taboos. If women and girls are well informed and can access the correct information without shame, they will choose products based on their needs and their economic capacity and create demand for the kinds of products they would prefer.                                                            

The need to improve access to menstrual health management products and services 

 Access to menstrual products remains a challenge for adolescent girls and young women. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 54% of Kenyan girls faced challenges in accessing menstrual 

products (Wood, et al., 2022). Sixty-five percent of women and girls in Kenya are unable to afford sanitary pads (Geertz, Lyer, Perri, Mazzola, & Peterson, 2016). Difficulty affording products and limited purchasing and negotiating power undermine menstrual product access, including through deprioritizing young women’s health and hygiene needs within families and partnerships (Wood, et al., 2022).

The need to expand reaches of menstrual health management services

Majority of menstrual health management programs target young women and school going girls. This leaves out girls and young women who do not attend school, women living with various disabilities and older women. However, there is scanty data on the challenges girls face at home, or later as adult women in the communities. Little attention has been paid to developing policies, strategies and practices that would enable girls and women to manage menstruation in a dignified and affordable manner, whether at school or household level (Kioli, Nyangara, & Wasonga, 2016).

The need to promote open conversation on menstrual health

The gendered social ramifications are profound for adolescent girls and young women who are at the cusp of menarche, have less knowledge of their bodies, navigating school, family, and relationships, with limited economic independence. Global evidence shows challenges to managing menstrual health, including stigmatization of menstrual health discussions within families, schools, and social networks (Wood, et al., 2022).

The need to promote innovation in menstrual health management

There is growing global attention focused on tackling the menstrual management challenges facing adolescent girls and women in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). This includes a surge of growth in new and locally produced menstrual products, often accompanied by innovative distribution approaches aimed at enhancing accessibility, along with the provision of menstruation-related education (Sommer, et al., 2020). 

LAF proposes to strengthen the menstrual health and sanitation market in Rangwe sub county in Homabay county through:

a.      Demand activation

Gap: Prevalent in the community is a gap in knowledge about menstruation, compounded by taboos, myths and stigma. Girls receive inadequate education on menarche, puberty and MHM and lack necessary information channels for ongoing support. Persons with disabilities (PWD) have been neglected in MHM programming. High costs of MHM products and distribution challenges limit accessibility to the majority of low-income girls and women. Despite an increase in low-cost sanitary pad enterprises, their reach is still limited. This project therefore seeks to: Collect and collate consumer preferences on menstrual health products and services in homabay County

●             Provide community education and sensitization in collaboration with Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) and ‘Boda Girls’ on MHM with an all-inclusive approach targeting men, women, PWDs and out of schoolgirls. This will be done through outreach teams and through various mass media initiatives (radio programmes and MHM advocacy campaigns).

●             Distribute low cost, reusable and disposable menstrual products, and feminine hygiene bins to improve access and facilitate proper disposal.

●             Design a framework for pro-poor subsidy financing options for MHM - Segmenting the market with potential financing options for MHM products and services for different segments of the community (microfinance, discounts, vouchers, community savings and loans mechanism, flexible payment options)

●             Focus on below-the-line communications and marketing that involves promotional methods that seek to directly engage with target customers in person, to promote MHM products e.g.in-person demonstration of MHM products that consumers may wish to investigate in person.

b. Innovative technology to enhance service delivery models in sanitation & MHM Gap: There is inadequate linkage of different actors in MHM product and service chain. There is a lack of safe space where girls can get information and discuss issues on MHM openly. The project will facilitate:

●             Development and adoption of an MHM Health technology app that provides access to MHM information and actors, acts as a guide to “boda girls” on where demand is, collects data on menstrual waste generated, and collects data on community preferences. This will be available online and with an offline/USSD version.

●             Host a youth friendly center or hub that will provide a safe space for menstrual health conversations therefore improving access to positive MHM behavior uptake. The project will employ the concept of MHM peer educators.

c. Transforming provision of menstrual hygiene management (MHM) products and services. Gap: MHM programming has previously been done in schools with an opportunity to extend to the community. There is a gap in access and affordability of MHM products and no local production center for MHM products. Safety and transportation costs present as challenges to product distribution hence cost-effective and reliable distribution channels across the County are needed. The project therefore 

seeks to:

●             Construct an eco-friendly incinerator.

●             Utilize “Boda Girls” as a strategy for: demand generation, awareness and education, distribution of MHM products (dignity kit and feminine disposal bins) to designated satellite retail shops and disposal of MHM wastes from community to incinerator.

●             Promote the training of seamstresses drawn from the community on the production low-cost reusable pads under LAF. This is for income generation and project sustainability. Optimize the Supply Chain through improved demand forecasting, integrating inventory and distribution planning of MHM products and services with the goal of reducing costs (inventory carrying costs, delivery costs) and enhancing efficiency (enhanced order fulfillment). This will be applied throughout the MHM supply chain touching on storage, collection, transportation, treatment, and disposal.

The project will utilize a “one stop shop” model that seeks to place the ‘Boda girls’ concept at the centre of menstrual health management programming. The business strategy behind the one-stop shop is to provide convenience and efficiency to clients. In the project, the boda girls will; be the generators of demand data through mobilization and provision of health education, deliver menstrual health management products and services and ensure education is provided on proper disposal of waste arising from use of menstrual health management products. The Boda girls will go through a 10-month program which entails training on: motorcycle riding and safety, menstrual hygiene, computer literacy, first aid, business development and customer education including safe use of dignity kits. The Boda girls will operate like motorcycle uber, tracking their clients for safety purposes, providing codes for referrals from other Boda Girls and clients to widen coverage and reach.

The project will implement interventions aligned to the Lerne Adams Foundation Project (LAF) thematic areas as outlined below:

Intervention 1: Demand Activation for menstrual health management products and services

Intervention 2: Innovative technology for enhancement of service delivery in menstrual health management

Intervention 3: Transforming provision of menstrual hygiene management (MHM)products and services.

The project will be implemented in Rangwe and Mbita sub counties. With an average of 2 women per household eligible for MENSTRUAL HEALTH MANAGEMENT products, the project proposes 142,424 as  population of interest. The target population will be 60% of this since the project doesn’t cover all wards in the two sub counties, which translates to 85,454 for the two years.

·      The project will utilize a “one stop shop” model that seeks to place the ‘Boda girls’ at the centre of MHM programming. The boda girls will; be the generator of demand data through mobilization and health education, deliver MHM products and services and ensure proper disposal of waste from MHM products. The boda girls will be trained on: Access to motorcycle license and self-defense skills, computer literacy, job readiness and branding, business development, customer education and satisfaction, first aid and boda yoda mentoring. The boda girls will operate like motorcycle uber, tracking their clients for safety purposes, providing codes for referrals from other Boda Girls and clients (discounted vouchers) to widen coverage and reach.

Boda Girls will be engaged in two cohorts in a graduated approach over the 24-month period. After a 12 month period each cohort will graduate to independent operation. The period of independent operation will be closely monitored with the aim of eliciting lessons learnt and institute corrective measures and required support as appropriate.

·      The project will take an all-inclusive approach by involving the male population, community leadership, youth, school-going children. This is aimed at addressing the barriers presented by taboos and myths while sharing knowledge on proper MHM hence promoting open conversations, access, and support for menstruating females

Improve access to MENSTRUAL HEALTH MANAGEMENT products and services through market stimulation and demand creation

Promote community owned market driven solutions

Improve livelihoods through active engagement  of community members in MENSTRUAL HEALTH MANAGEMENT products generation and service delivery

Employ innovative methods in the transformation on MENSTRUAL HEALTH MANAGEMENT product and product and service delivery

We will impact the lives of :                                                                

Women above 35 to 49years              Remote Communities                 Our interventions are guided

Youth 18 to 34 years                            Females With Disabilities             by the Kenyan Non

Girls 10-17 years                                                                                   Governmental Organization             Act and 

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE OF ORGANIZATION’S KEY PERSONNEL

Evelyne Awino: Chief Executive Officer Holds an MBA (Health care management, BCOM (Management science,) CPA section 2, DBM, ACBM and CBM. With over 14 years’ experience in health management and leadership.

Claire Aloo: Finance and Admin Manager, holds an MBA, BCOM (management science), and CPAK with over 10 years in finance management 

  Sharon ogutu: Admin/ Procurement Officer: BCom (Banking and Finance) with over 7 years’

Sharon ogutu: Admin/ Procurement Officer: BCom (Banking and Finance) with over 7 years’ experience

LAF has been implementing the ‘Boda girls’ approach in collaboration with Days for girls in the distribution of reusable sanitary towels. Boda girls is an innovative LAF founded MHM service delivery approach which uses female motorcycle drivers in the delivery of menstrual products to in-need girls within the community. Six schools have benefited from Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) health talks by the Boda Girls. These include ogande girls’ high school, asego primary school, , masogo primary. The project has further reached Vulnerable disabled and  secondary school girls. A total of 576 sanitary kits have so far been distributed.

This project proposes an all-inclusive community approach. It will therefore include school going girls, young women, people living with disabilities and male community members who have traditionally been omitted in MHM projects/solutions. Men are an integral part of this project as they drive decision making at both community and household level. Incorporating them in the sensitization and education initiatives will enable them to appreciate the importance of MHM and therefore bolster support for menstruating women and girls including addressing cultural barriers. The project will further include key vulnerable and marginalized populations. These include, those living with HIV, pregnant adolescents and out of school girls. By using ‘Boda girls’ the project aims to empower vulnerable women by making them a key pillar of the project therefore, boosting their economic standing

Creating   Demand-------

Utilize community members in the delivery of MENSTRUAL HEALTH MANAGEMENT solutions digital Use technology in the menstrual product and 

Improving access

Through awareness creation, education, and an involvement of; male members of the community.

Use of youths hubs to increase access to products

Disposal 

Come up with low cost incinerators for disposal of MH products  

The plans and strategies that lerne adams foundation will put in place to ensure sustainability of the project beyond funding include.

·      Collaboration & Stakeholder engagement: LAF will work closely with the County Government of Homabay, ensuring the project is aligned to the County Plans. LAF will continuously advocate for the adoption of the project approach to ensure continuity of the strengthening of the sanitation marketplace. We will create a strong network for collaboration with the Academy for Novel Channels in Health & Operations research (ACANOVA) for development of health app, Days for girls, Community members, Community Health Workers, Community Based Organizations (CBOs), Youth groups and Women Groups.

·      Community engagement: To promote ownership of the project and the sustained operation of the sanitation marketplace, community members, male and female, will be engaged in the implementation to promote demand and appreciate the key role MHM plays. Boda girls will be drawn and deployed within their communities.

·      Continued education, sensitization, and implementation of the project with community members, is envisioned to result in the appreciation of the importance of MHM while addressing cultural and knowledge barriers and increasing the demand for services and products beyond the project period.

·      Adolescent friendly spaces: LAF will continue to manage the youth friendly hub beyond the project period to provide a safe space for continued discussion of menstrual health topics.

·      Economic empowerment: LAF will seek to provide financial literacy for Boda girls and support them in the translation of the concept into a business model and organization into Community Groups that will be empowered by providing repertoire of business skills. Sourcing for local labor and materials for incinerator construction.

Promoting continued education in MHM: LAF through the college of science will incorporate the lessons learned during implementation into a course on Mainstreaming MHM in health programming.