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GG 2345339
Days for Girls Eswatini Health Education Training and Washable Eco Menstrual Hygiene Kits Phase 2
Budget: USD 103,415.
We are currently seeking partners in multiple districts for this Global Grant in the amount of $2,000-$5,000
Money to be sent to LRCF, PO Box 1021, Lynnwood WA 98046. Attn: Debbie Bodal DfG Global Grant
NGO Partner: Days for Girls Eswatini
Host Club RC Mbuluzi-Mbabani, Eswatini D9400
Contact: Caroline Sullivan carolines@realnet.co.sz
International Partner: RC Lynnwood D5030
Contact Debbie Bodal ddbodal@gmail.com & Janet Leister janetcleister@comcast.net
2 year grant Oct 2023-Oct 2025.
Areas of focus Economic Development & Women's Menstrual Health and Hygiene
What are the main objectives of the project and who will benefit from it?
Days for Girls (DfG) International, a worldwide organization, provides menstrual hygiene solutions and reproductive health training to women and girls in need. It establishes locally driven sewing centers and enterprises to manufacture and distribute the washable/environmentally friendly menstrual kits, empowering women with jobs and work skills, and providing menstrual health training. The kits allow girls and women to stay in school and women to stay at work. It includes the Men Who Know (MWK) program that empowers the boys with knowledge of both the male and female anatomy, to understand why menstruation is important, and to respect girls and women. As one boy said, "I now know that a girl is not lazy because she sits in a field while having her period."
Phase 1 of Days for Girls Eswatini Health Education Training and Washable Eco Menstrual Hygiene Kits was a two-year GG awarded and was completed in February 2022. In September 2021 we applied for a district grant to install water stations in 15 of the schools where we had distributed washable menstrual kits during our GG. This was during COVID where water was needed to keep everyone healthy, and the Ministry of Health required hand washing stations in each school. (Both projects were successful and the results are further described in this GG.)
In May 2023 the Days for Girls (DfG) Eswatini Enterprise did a community assessment to evaluate the success of both projects and to assess the communities' current needs. The assessment looked at whether the girls were using the washable pads and if there was still a need for the continuation of the health Education training and distribution of the washable Eco menstrual hygiene kits. From the community assessment, DfG found out that indeed the girls did benefit from the training and menstrual kits. In addition, they found out that that there was a great need for available menstrual friendly toilets/latrines. For those who did have disposable pads, there needed to be a proper disposal method. It was also found that the boys benefitted from the education. (Attached is the Community Assessment for more detail.)
In addition to the community assessment, Debbie Bodal and Janet Leister from the Lynnwood Rotary went with the DfG Snoqualmie team to Eswatini in October 2022 to evaluate the impact of global and handwashing stations grants. We found that some of the girls wanted to have girls' clubs in their schools that dealt with feminine issues. In addition, it was important to identify the new girls that needed the washable kits and education on an ongoing basis. Our group and local Rotaries also met with the Minister of Education. She is supportive of the program. She also appreciates that the DfG provides kits to GoGo's (grandmothers) for incontinence. Therefore, our Phase 2 Global Grant incorporates these needs in the global grant.
The Phase 2 Global Grant funding over the next two years is to move DfG Eswatini to an increased level of sustainability by:
• Strengthening their foundation
• Continuing to distribute the washable/environmentally friendly kits with health education training to both girls and boys, including WASH training
• Improving the sanitation of the latrines by providing a safe and lighted space for the girls to change their pads
• Keeping women sewers employed by sewing the kits
• Creating a new community model in 3 schools
DfG Eswatini is committed to their vision of empowering all girls, women, GOGO's, boys, and men throughout Eswatini by helping them to have healthy, productive lives
There are four main objectives to increase the increased level of sustainability:
(1) Pilot a Community Ambassador Program. Budget $9950
• Identify 3 Community Ambassadors from one community and establish roles and expectations.
The purpose of establishing community ambassadors is to have local contacts with schools,
churches, and community organizations. Ambassadors will coordinate initial DfG distributions
and MWK training with follow up as needed.
• Identify 3 schools in the Ambassadors' community as test models for establishing Days for Girls
club. Assign one Community Ambassador per school. The purpose of creating a girl's club so
that that the girls manage their own reproductive health, have a support group, and address
issues of interest to them. The DfG Club would be an option for students to join like any other
club in the school.
• The Community Ambassadors with work with teachers/counselors who will sponsor the girls'
clubs. The Community Ambassadors will help the sponsors with the management of the clubs
to alleviate some of the workload placed upon school staff. Each club will have a student
President The club will empower the girls with leadership skills that are needed for their future.
• The DfG club will also work with the Community Ambassador to identify girls that need
menstrual products and reproductive health training.
The Community DfG Ambassadors will be contracted by DfG Eswatini. The DfG Ambassadors
(that go throughout different communities to do distributions) will assist Community
Ambassadors with distributions as necessary.
• Work with the boys to possible establish a boy's club.
(2) Latrine Renovation Project. Budget $6,000
Renovate a 4-stall latrine in three different schools to allow for an improved environment for menstrual health management including:
• Adding windows with screens
• Increase wall height for privacy.
• Paint
• Providing proper seats for the toilet.
• Providing small incinerators for the disposable pads.
• Providing lockable doors so that girls have a safe place to change their pads.
(3) Distributions of DfG kits and Men Who Know Training (MWK). Budget $75,685
Educate the women and girls about their menstrual health when distributing the washable/environmentally friendly menstrual kits to the girls and women in Eswatini by the women Ambassadors (trainers). Boys will also be educated by the Men Who Know Ambassadors about their bodies and reproductive health.
• 7 distributions of kits per month for 11 months per year with 45 girls and/or women in each distribution. 6, 930 kits distributed over 22 months. This includes health education with distribution and travel costs
• 7 Men Who Know trainings per month for 11 months per year with 45 boys in each training. 6,930 boys trained over 22 months. This includes trainings with distributions and travel costs.
• Continue to train women to become Ambassadors of Women's Menstrual Health which includes reproductive health for both women and men and how to care for and use the washable/environmentally friendly menstrual kits. Other topics in the training include human trafficking, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV and how to support women during their menses. This includes trainings and travel costs.
• Continue to contract with the women to sew the washable/environmentally friendly menstrual hygiene components that make up a kit.
(4) Technology to support the field work and to gather data. Budget $11,780
• 4 new Cell Phones-to increase reliability, safety in travel for distributions, enable quality pictures of activities while in the field.
• Software - to streamline capacity for evaluations and measurements of benefits
• 3 New Computers-to increase reliability and capacity for planning, communication, monitoring, and evaluation
• Wi-FI Booster- To improve capabilities for reliability and speed of Wi-Fi to allow for reliable communication, monitoring, and evaluation
History
After three years of working in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and distributing washable/environmentally friendly menstrual kits that were made by sewers in the US, DfG International and DfG Snoqualmie Chapter in Washington State realized that a sustainable organization was needed in Eswatini. The demands and needs were there. In early 2017, they were contacted by Lindiwe Dfadla, a local educator and development worker, who had researched DfG International. She had found that it was the only organization that had menstrual health training along with the distributions of the kits and that they included boys in the program.
In May 2017, the DfG Eswatini Enterprise was established, with the support and mentorship of DfG Snoqualmie Chapter and DfG International, to address the needs for girls to have the dignity and access to menstrual products. DfG Eswatini developed the Education and Sewing Resource Center with the goal of sewing their own kits (versus being sewn in the US) and providing menstrual health training in country to meet the needs of their girls, women, and boys. What they have found as they have gone into the communities for distributions is that not only do they speak to the girls, women and boys and men, but also to the grandmothers, GoGo's. The GoGo's had been asking about menopause and started using the sustainable washable pads during this time as well as to address incontinence.
Eswatini is a gold certification Enterprise, meaning, they have met DfG International's high quality standards for their sewn /completed kits. This certification allows them to receive orders for kits that come through their international office. They also receive other benefits such as the ability to order custom fabric from the DfG International offices and other discounted items as these opportunities are arise for DfG International. It also means that the DfG Eswatini Enterprise can sell their gold standard kits to other NGOs for distribution in other countries.
DfG International and its chapters are recognized by Rotary International as an approved non-profit organization that supports women and girls all over the world including the USA. In early 2021 Rotary Action Group Menstrual Health & Hygiene was established, RAGMHH, to address period poverty around the world, giving women options so that they can continue to lead productive, healthy lives during their period.
In our GG 1986000 Phase 1, we saw how the distributions and training in communities and schools went significantly up during the two years of the grant, most of which was during the pandemic. The successes of our first Global Grant are listed below.
• Distributed 9,041 Kits with training.
• Benefitted directly 14,373 people
• Did 943 trainings for kits that were purchased by NGO's.
• Sewed and distributed 29,888 masks.
• Started the Men Who Know program and trained 4,355 boys.
• Continued to contract with 20 sewers, 9 ambassadors for girls and women and 2 ambassadors for the Men Who Know program.
• Sold $7,709 worth of kits and masks.
With this Phase 2 GG, we want to continue to reach out to new communities and to also revisit schools and communities where we have done distributions and are now in need to educate a new generation of girls who are having their periods.
BUDGET DETAIL
Please supply two budgets if applying for a district Match, showing budget with and without match
WE ARE ACTIVELY FUNDRAISING HOPING TO SUBMIT THE GRANT IN EARLY JUNE. We are reaching out to multiple districts.
5030, 5020, 5050, 5040 and 9400
Expense Category Amount
Cell phones. USD 3780
Computers 6,000
Software 1000
WIFI booster 1000
Latrine Renovation Project
6,000
Community Ambassador Trainings,
travel & accommodations 9,950
Distributions and MWK trainings, travel, supplies, product advertising
75,682
Total 103,415
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