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The Girls’ Empowerment Program

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Empowering Girls through
Menstrual Hygiene Management

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Every year, thousands of girls in San Miguel de Allende reach puberty and experience their first periods. Rarely are they prepared, and often whatever information they’d received prior is inaccurate. More than 75% of girls report loss of self-esteem after their first menstruation. It is stigmatized as shameful, unclean, and something to be hidden. Disposable tampons and sanitary pads are beyond the financial reach of most families. Consequently, girls miss school, fall behind, have higher drop-out rates. They receive less education than the boys and are at a greater risk of being impoverished as adults.
 
The Girls’ Empowerment Program teaches girls what is happening to their bodies and works to remove the stigma surrounding menstruation. Niñas Sabias is an educational program of five two-hour modules presented over a period of five days. The girls participate in a series of culturally relevant rituals as they come to embrace their bodies’ cycles. We also provide each participant with washable, reusable menstrual hygiene kits that are designed to manage their periods for three years. Having the proper materials and information to manage their periods in a dignified and healthy manner increases confidence in all parts of their lives, allows them to stay in school, and increases their chances of escaping poverty.

The average cost of the program per girl is $23 (USD) which covers both paying our teachers and the cost of the reusable menstrual hygiene kits. In addition to local fundraising, the Midday Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende secured a $91,000 (USD) global grant from The Rotary Foundation to fund the program. The Secretary of Education of the state of Guanajuato is supporting the Girls’ Empowerment Program and has signed a contract with the Midday Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende authorizing the teaching of the program in the schools during the school week. Since January 2023, over 3,500 5th and 6th grade girls have been taught in over 80 rural and urban schools in the San Miguel communities. And we’re still going strong!

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Back to School Campaign

Click HERE

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Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende-Midday
Club 70057 - Rotary District 4140
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico