Adolescent girls and women in Kericho County benefited from donation of sanitary pads courtesy of a joint initiative involving the office of the First Lady Rachel Ruto, Kenya Broadcasting Corporation Kalenjin station Kitwek FM.
Popular as “Dignity Packs”, the sanitary towels to be distributed especially in the remotest parts of the country are aimed at ridding disadvantaged women and girls from period poverty amid concerns over use unhygienic methods to manage their menstruation.
In Kericho, women (largely widows) and school girls in Chemegong, Soin Sigowet sub-county were reached with pads by the officials from Mama Doing Good programme, an initiative of First Lady Rachel Ruto, as part of celebrations to marking International Widows Day.
Betty Mutai, the Spouse of Kericho governor graced the event. She welcomed the joint initiative by the office of First Lady and Kitwek FM to both empower widows.
“We thank you for this a noble cause. To remember that person who is down, a widow, and to motivate them, I really appreciate you,” said Mrs. Mutai
Paul Kirui, who led a team from Mama Doing Good from Kericho County noted that Mama Doing Good is an organization consisting of three core pillars that catalyze socio-economic transformation in communities to achieve a quality holistic life through spirituality, collective agency, voice and influence.
“In Kericho County alone, we have about 720 groups and have reached 7,900 residents through various economic empowerment initiatives.” Within five sub-counties in Kericho we have offices and we want to continue helping more people,” he said
He said parents can also access financial support from the initiative to fund their children education.
Chemegong Primary School and the sub-county at large also benefited from tree seedlings from the organization.
“We support the government initiatives to address climate change. That is why we have come here to plant trees in order to increase our forest cover,” said Kirui
He said the decision by the First Lady to come up with a table banking initiative for women empowerment has so far enlisted and supported more than 150,000 women from 12,000 families across the country.
