Yorkits: Keeping girls in education

What? 

Yorkits is a Rotary-run community 'hands-on' project which involves a diverse range of volunteers coming together to make washable, easy-to-use, feminine hygiene kits for girls in developing countries - and it goes from strength to strength.

Why?
In many developing countries, due to poverty, many girls have no feminine hygiene provision and can’t go to school during menstruation, therefore missing out large parts of their education. We therefore aim to help by providing them with access to uninterrupted schooling.
How?
We run workshops and use brightly patterned cottons to make up the eco-friendly low-cost cleverly designed kits, which are packed into attractive drawstring bags and which last each girl typically for up to three years.

Yorkits workshop in full swing

Each kit also contains panties, a wash cloth, a carry bag for soiled items and a strong polythene zip-locked bag for washing the items in small amounts of often scarce water. In addition, we provide templates and instructions on how to make further kits for themselves.  We also seed fund school and women’s community self-help groups to start making kits out of local materials.

Where?
We run monthly Saturday workshops at Manor Academy, Milfield Lane, Nether Poppleton. YO26 6PA - 10.00am - 12.00 noon - excluding July, August and December. And occasionally othyer venues upon request.

A workshop is held in York Minster once a year in March to recognise International Women's Day.

Delivery
The kits are taken by volunteers to overseas projects run by Rotary, Churches and other voluntary organisations. In some areas we have seed funded schools and women’s self-help community groups to make their own kits out of local materials.  This is greatly encouraging the development of self-sustainability. 
The Yorkits kits give the girls (and now also their mothers and other women in their communities) dignity and the chance to take control of their own situations. Rotarian Issy Sanderson, spent much of her working life in developing countries initiating self-help and income-generating projects in poor communities. Issy organises the workshops sponsored by Rotary York Ainsty.

THAT'S TV YORK FEATURED ROTARY YORK AINSTY PROJECT COORDINATOR ISSY SANDERSON AT THE ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY WORKSHOP, HELD IN YORK MINSTER. THE THAT'S TV FILM REPORT OF THE EVENT - first shown March 5, 2020 - CAN BE SEEN AT THIS LINK: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G14wFvUhv8. CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO SEE THE FULL VIDEO.

THESE KITS CHANGE LIVES To see an article on Yorkits by Dave King (August 2019) click here:  https://www.rotarygbi.org/?s=yorkits

 YORKITS CONTACT 

To contact Yorkits or to find further information e-mail Issy Sanderson at yorkitsrotaryainsty@gmail.com

 TO ACCESS THE YORKITS LIBRARY OF PROJECT PAGES CLICK THE LINK BELOW

Yorkits now active in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Keeping Kenyan Girls in Education

Yorkits now active in Yemen - in co-operation with Cleckheaton Rotary Club