The main photograph (above), supplied by Tanzanian aid worker Alice Kostrzewa, shows a group of schoolchildren in Arusha, the United Republic of Tanzania, proudy displaying their personal hygiene kits, locally made from templates provided by Yorkits. Image source is Yorkits ©
For the past ten years, the Yorkits project of Rotary York Ainsty has been making washable, reusable period kits for girls around the world to lessen the period poverty burden.
The group has made an average of 300 kits each year since the project began. Kits have gone to twenty-five countries, refugee camps and women’s refuges.
In March 2023, the group ran its 8th International Women’s Week workshop in York Minster - resulting in 70 finished kits and many more partially completed. Nearly 250 kits have already been sent out in the first 6 months this year.
Tackling period poverty one kit at a time
Every month, 1.8 billion people across the world menstruate. However, it’s estimated that at least 500 million women and girls lack access to the facilities they need to manage their periods Having access to period products is also a major barrier for women and girls worldwide.
For many girls around the world, getting their period means putting their lives on hold as stigma, embarrassment and lack of appropriate toilets and facilities can exclude them from daily activities. Many women and girls also have limited information on how to manage their periods as well as lack of access to period products. Period poverty doesn’t just affect women in girls in developing countries. In 2021, 50% of girls in the UK said they couldn’t afford period products at some point
Each kit includes: eight pads; two pad pockets; a waterproof bag for carrying soiled items; two pairs of knickers; a flannel; and a resealable polythene bag to use as a makeshift washing machine in areas with poor access to water; instructions with diagrams; and a postcard with kind messages from Yorkits. The contents are all packed into a discreet fabric drawstring bag and sent to where they are needed.
A kit can last a girl three years, which equates to 200 days of education she does not have to miss because of menstruation.
'What We Do' Main Pages:
Yorkits - making and supplying washable feminine hygiene kits for girls in developing countries
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