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Empowering Girls through
Menstrual Hygiene Management

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The Situation:
Each year thousands of girls in San Miguel de Allende reach puberty and experience their first period. Rarely are they prepared. What information they have is generally wrong. More than 75% of girls report loss of self-esteem after menarche, the first menstrual period. Menstruation is viewed as shameful, unclean and something to be hidden. Commercial products, such as disposable sanitary pads, are financially beyond the reach of most families. Consequently, girls miss school, fall behind, are at risk of dropping out and have fewer opportunities to get an equitable education.
 
The Solution: The Girls’ Empowerment Program focuses on young girls reaching puberty and beginning their menstrual cycles. It provides education, opportunity and sustainable menstrual management materials. It emphasizes menstruation as a natural and healthy process, and it celebrates the beauty of becoming a woman.
 
Education: Providing timely knowledge to girls so they understand what is happening to their bodies and understand the blessing of the power of being able to create life is the first step to removing the stigma surrounding menstruation. The workshops give girls a full and accurate understanding of their body, its anatomy and their sacred power to create life. The program empowers them to make informed decisions about their lives and their bodies.
 
Opportunity: Being able to effectively manage the menstrual cycle means that young women need not be absent from school or work. Employment opportunities increase with fewer days missed from work. More education and better jobs are a path out of poverty.

Sustainable Menstrual Hygiene Kits: The program provides girls with washable, reusable menstrual hygiene kits to enable them to manage their menstrual periods. This eases the financial burden of continuously purchasing environmentally unfriendly disposable sanitary pads. The kits are complete and provide all that is needed for three years of effective menstrual management. Having the proper materials and information to manage their periods in a dignified and healthy manner increases confidence in all parts of their lives.
 
Self-Confidence: Understanding and celebrating the sacredness of womanhood elevates self-esteem. Girls can stay in school and have an equal opportunity to complete their education. Gender disparity is reduced. Knowledge, pride and self-awareness lead to better outcomes. Peer bonds and trusted support systems are established in the Girls’ Empowerment Program workshops.

The Method: To achieve a successful transition between childhood and adulthood requires more than a band aid approach of providing free supplies and an understanding of “managing” the menstrual period as if it were a chronic illness to be endured. Adolescence is complicated physically and psychosocially. It is important to take a holistic approach to supporting a young girl becoming a woman. 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 and spiritual exercises, and they come to embrace their power and capabilities. They learn how to make informed decisions about their bodies. The Niñas Sabias program has been taught to thousands of girls in Mexico and Costa Rica over the last five years.
 
Master Teachers: Hana Figueroa of Niñas Sabias provides a five-day, forty-hour training to develop local Certified Master Teachers. The training includes a systemized guide to replicate in the Girls’ Empowerment Program workshops. In San Miguel, ten local women were trained to become Certified Master Teachers of the Niñas Sabias educational program in July 2022.

School Workshops: The Secretary of Education of the state of Guanajuato is supporting the Girls’ Empowerment Program and 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 day. Since January 2023, over 2,700 5th and 6th grade girls have been taught in over 80 rural and urban schools in the San Miguel communities. 
 
Cost: The average cost of the program per girl is $23 (USD) to cover paying the 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.

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