"the girl with her period is the one to hang her head"

     In poor and underprivileged countries, it is common for girls to receive minimal instruction on what menstruation is and how it can be managed.  Discussions concerning this topic are perceived as inappropriate and shameful.  Because solutions to this monthly occurrence have not been addressed, schoolgirls in Kenya often suffer consequences such as poor academic performance and more importantly, school absence, which disables a girl to pursue an education or a career.  In Kenya, reproductive health issues are the leading cause of dropouts among primary age schoolgirls.  Because they do not have resources to properly care for themselves during menstruation, girls will stay home one out of every four weeks to avoid shame and embarrassment.  As a result, they receive less education and are more likely to cease going to school completely as they become older.  According to www.concernusa.org, "Around 54 percent of out-of-school children are girls, yet studies have shown that women who are educated have greater earning potential, are less vulnerable to HIV infection, have fewer and healthier children, and are more likely to send their own children to school.  Providing every mother in sub-Saharan Africa with a secondary education would save the lives of 1.8 million children."

     As I stated in my previous blog post, this summer I will be traveling to Kenya through the non-profit organization Koins for Kenya.  One of our projects is to build latrines for the Kenyan students near the schools.  This will allow the girls to attend school even while they are menstruating because there will be a facility nearby for them to properly care for their symptoms rather than being forced to go to the bathroom in a nearby bush or behind a tree.  As a fundraiser, we will be selling necklaces to raise money for the building of these latrines.  However, we need YOUR help to do this.

     We have been blessed with so many resources that many people around the world do not have the privilege of taking advantage of.  We are extremely fortunate to have the option of earning an education if we so choose and so many of us take that for granted, including myself at times.  Because of how abundantly I have been blessed, it would be so incredibly selfish not to use the resources I have been given to help improve the lives of others.  Something as simple as a latrine may not seem monumental to us but to a Kenyan schoolgirl who has the desire to earn an education so that she can better her life, it will mean the world.  If you would like to purchase a necklace or provide a donation, please let me know.  Asante sana!  (Thank you very much!)

(For more information: http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1472-698X-11-7.pdf)

we are tested, but never abandoned

     I apologize in advance for what I think will be the content of my blog over the next few months.  I have recently realized that I actually enjoy reading and in preparation for Africa this summer, I have a long booklist to complete.  Oh yes, I am going to Africa!  This coming July I will be going to Kenya for a few weeks which will fulfill my spring semester Level I Fieldwork requirement.  We are planning some amazing service projects for the people of Kenya and I can't wait to get involved in helping to make a difference in their lives.

     In preparation for Africa, the first book that I read was written by Immaculee Ilibagiza, a survivor of the Rwanda genocide of 1994.  In her autobiography, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust, Immaculee tells the story of how the death of Rwandan's Hutu President sparked a three-month slaughter of nearly one million Tutsis.  As a 22 year old Tutsi during this time, Immaculee was forced to hide in a Hutu pastor's bathroom with seven other Tutsi women for 91 days.  During these terrifying three months, Immaculee relied on the power of prayer and God's saving grace to help her survive.  Throughout the book, she shares her "aha moments" as she realizes that her battle to survive this war would have to be fought inside of her.  At times, Immaculee was given personal revelation that she was being saved for an unknown reason which she later would find was to become "living proof of the power of prayer and positive thinking, which really are almost the same thing.  God is the source of all positive energy, and prayer is the best way to tap in to His power."

     Although desperately wanting to know why she was forced to go through this during the hardest moments, she says, "I came to learn that God never shows us something we aren't ready to understand.  Instead, He lets us see what we need to see, when we need to see it.  He'll wait until our eyes and hearts are open to Him, and then when we're ready, He will plant our feet on the path that's best for us...but it's up to us to do the walking."  As humans in this life, there are so many things that are beyond our understanding.  We ask God "why?" hoping that He will give us an explanation for every trial we are put through.  We must realize that in hard times we are tested, but never abandoned.  God gives us trials so that we can become stronger and although at times it seems impossible to know how something so hard is helping us, He is there to provide us those answers when we are ready for them.  However, "it is up to us to do the walking."  It is up to us to have faith in the future and trust in the Lord in all things, and if we do, we are sure to be led somewhere great.