TemboHeart Project for Girls & Women in Tanzania

For the TemboHeart Project’s 6th year, we hope to continue providing reusable menstrual kits and health information to school girls and Maasai women in Tanzania. Can you please help us achieve our goal?

The idea of being healthy — of having the resources to stay healthy — isn’t taken for granted by the girls and women I’ve met in Tanzania. I learned this first hand in 2015 while I was sitting in the shade of a huge tree at a remote Maasai village in Tanzania called Endulen. I was surrounded by a dozen young women wrapped in brightly colored cloths and decorated with beautiful beaded jewelry. Goats grazed nearby and babies fussed as the women explained their situation: they had no source for sanitary supplies and would resort to using rags or old newspaper to manage their periods. This made taking care of their families, working at a job or staying in school very difficult and unhealthy. Could I help, the women asked?

I went home and realized that by using research, writing and photography skills, I could help. Sometimes an unexpected event changes your life’s path. 2021 is now the 6th year that the TemboHeart Project will distribute reusable menstrual kits and crucial health education in Tanzania. I’m planning to return to Tanzania in August — my 10th visit to Africa — and continue to provide Menstrual Health resources.
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2021 PROJECT GOALS
Funds from previous fundraisers:
• GoFundMe 2020 remaining: $240
• Facebook 2021 Earth Day fundraiser: $460

2021 TemboHeart Project GoFundMe goal: $1000
Total funds would be: $1700

Project expenses include:
• 150 reusable menstrual kits  distributed to two schools in Arusha @$10/each: $1500
• Educational meeting materials and educator/presenter stipends: $150
Transportation to pick up and deliver kits to Arusha school: $50
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Menstrual Health and Period Poverty: Do you know these terms?
The concept of Menstrual Health is still relatively new yet awareness is growing as we learn how connected we all are through health issues and how we treat the Earth. In May of this year, an official, research-backed definition for Menstrual Health was finally developed. Led by the Terminology Action Group of the Global Menstrual Collective, this holistic definition includes requirements for achieving menstrual health throughout a person’s lifetime – from timely education to adequate WASH (water access, sanitation and hygiene) facilities. The basic definition is that “Menstrual health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity in relation to the menstrual cycle.” (1)

Period Poverty — having inadequate access to menstrual hygiene tools and education such as sanitary products, washing facilities and waste management — is often associated with shame and stigma. “Period poverty is an overwhelming concept in sub-Saharan Africa,” writes Rashmi Verma in her 2019 article "Menstrual hygiene in Africa: No Pad or No Way to Dispose It." “They either don’t have access to menstrual products and WASH (water, sanitation and good hygiene) facilities, or in the rare scenarios where they do, they don’t have any way of disposing menstrual waste.”

She continues, “This is when menstrual health management is linked to several Sustainable Development Goals —physical health and psycho-social well-being, quality education, gender empowerment and equality, water and sanitation, sustainable cities, and responsible consumption and production for the environment.”

For Earth Day in April, I created a Facebook fundraiser for the project emphasizing the sustainable aspect of reusable menstrual products. And it’s clear that reusable pads are better for the Earth. A few surprising facts:

— An individual uses about 11,000 disposable pads and/or tampons in a lifetime and more than 800 million people menstruate daily.
— Conventional sanitary pads contain up to 90% plastic and a pack of menstrual pads is equivalent to four plastic bags.
— Most tampons contain chemicals and while the products sit in landfills, the chemicals are soaked up by the earth and released as pollution into groundwater and air.
Why is Period Poverty such a big problem?
UNICEF explains that “many girls do not have complete and accurate understanding of menstruation as a normal biological process. Educating girls before their first period -- and, importantly, boys -- on menstruation, builds their confidence, contributes to social solidarity and encourages healthy habits. Poor menstrual hygiene can pose physical health risks and has been linked to reproductive and urinary tract infections.” (2)

According to the Global Citizen, “Women and young girls who menstruate are ostracized from basic activities, like eating certain foods, or socializing, all over the world. The cultural shame attached to menstruation and a shortage of resources stop women from going to school and working every day. Period poverty is the lack of access to sanitary products, menstrual hygiene education, toilets, hand washing facilities, and, or, waste management.” (3)
While our first project year focused on the Maasai women at Endulen village, we have expanded to include primary and secondary schools in Arusha and Endulen as well. We’ve learned that the kits really do help girls stay in school and become educated young women who can make choices about their lives. With the kits, women living in remote areas are better able to care for their families and to contribute to their communities.

Being born female in many cultures automatically equals vulnerability, obstacles and lack of education, resources and support. Additional factors such as poverty, cultural customs and isolation make it extremely difficult for girls to have the right to make their own choices. In traditional Maasai societies where getting married and having children determine a girl’s worth, fewer than one in 100 Maasai girls complete secondary school (high school) and nine out of 10 are married off before age 15.
What does a reusable menstrual kit contain?
Imagine that to manage your period each month you had to search for old rags, newspapers and other unhealthy sources or, maybe, just stay at home until the bleeding stopped. Now think of how you would feel if you received a colorful fabric drawstring bag with underwear, waterproof shields, absorbent flannel liners, bags for washing and storage, a washcloth and soap?

I’ve watched the silent amazement and gratitude on a few thousand faces as the bags were opened. And then a lot of excited talking and laughter.

The kits are as pretty as they are functional. The absorbent liner pads are sewn from brightly colored cloth to camouflage staining and unfold to look like a washcloth so they can dry outside in the sun without causing embarrassment. The shields contain a waterproof liner that easily snaps into place. Studies show that the kits last up to three years, are comfortable and work well in a variety of settings.

We purchase locally manufactured kits in Tanzania that incorporate the Days for Girls enterprise guidelines. Days for Girls is an international organization that “increases access to menstrual care and education by developing global partnerships, cultivating Social Entrepreneurs, mobilizing volunteers and innovating sustainable solutions that shatter stigma and limitations for women and girls.” (4)
The crucial connection between Menstrual Health and girls' education
More than one in 10 first-time mothers in Tanzania are aged 15-19 and in rural areas like Endulen village the numbers are even higher. Girls and women often don’t understand their menstrual cycle, how pregnancy occurs or what happens to their bodies during pregnancy and childbirth.

According to the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, “Women who start having children in adolescence tend to have more children and shorter spacing between pregnancies – all of which are risk factors for maternal and neonatal mortality. The neonatal mortality rate is highest among mothers under 20 years of age at 45 per 1000 live births compared with 29 per 1000 for mothers aged 20 to 29 years.
Maternal death rates are closely linked with the high fertility rates and low socioeconomic status of women, especially the lack of influence that women have over their own health care or over the daily household budget. About 40 percent of Tanzanian women do not participate in significant decisions regarding their own health care. On average, every Tanzanian woman gives birth to 5 or 6 children and 1 in 3 of them begins childbearing before their 18th birthday.” (5)

For girls who can enroll in school, their continued attendance is vulnerable and can easily be derailed — something as simple as lack of sanitary supplies can mean the difference between education and early marriage. In a groundbreaking study from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, findings from a two-year trial in rural Uganda showed that providing free sanitary products and education about puberty increased girls’ attendance at school. Researchers believe that the cost of hygiene products and the difficulties in managing periods play a key role in keeping girls out of school.” (6)
How does the TemboHeart Project help?
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, TemboHeart Project has distributed nearly 800 reusable kits in Tanzania over the years and also provided assistance to other organizations to distribute many more kits. I plan, fund raise and promote the project from home in California and work closely with my project partner, Lemali Sabore, to organize the meetings in Tanzania. Lemali is Maasai and lives with his daughters and mother at Endulen but often visits family in Arusha. When I'm there in Tanzania, I rely on his help for all aspects of the distribution meetings, and he's comfortable and knowledgeable talking about Menstrual Health issues with everyone.

For our meetings, we use the Days for Girls curriculum to provide information on a variety of topics including the menstrual cycle, personal hygiene, infections and diseases, pregnancy, HIV, self defense, female and male anatomy and how to care for and use the kits.

In the village, we rely on the help of Dr. Mameso Frederick who has worked at the Endulen hospital for many years. As a Maasai woman and a doctor, she provides a unique perspective on the cultural and educational issues girls and women face living in a remote village. In Arusha schools, Lemali and his cousin Nayeku present the educational materials to the students. Teachers and administrators often attend the meetings and learn about the kits beforehand so they can contribute to the discussions.

Where do we distribute the kits?
Endulen is one of several Maasai villages in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a UNESCO World Heritage site in northern Tanzania that covers more than 8,292 square kilometers (5,152 miles). According to UNESCO, the area includes “vast expanses of highland plains, savanna, savanna woodlands and forests. Established in 1959 as a multiple land use area, with wildlife coexisting with semi-nomadic Maasai pastoralists practicing traditional livestock grazing, it includes the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater, the world’s largest caldera.” (7)
Arusha is located at the base of Mount Meru and is a gateway to safari destinations and to Africa's highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro which is 100 kilometers northeast. Tourism is a major part of Arusha’s economy as the city is located near some of the greatest national parks and game reserves in Africa including Serengeti National Park, Kilimanjaro National Park, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Arusha National Park, Lake Manyara National Park and Tarangire National Park. (8) This bustling city is filled with markets, street vendors, workers, shops and many inhabitants. As a foreigner walking through Arusha, I’m dazed and fascinated by all that’s going on and love the bright busy Tanzanian culture.
Our TemboHeart Name
Tembo is the Swahili word for elephant and these intelligent, family-oriented mammals are literally big-hearted — the average elephant heart weights 26-46 pounds (12-21 kg). I admire the elephant’s matriarchal society and the way they care for each other. For me, TemboHeart means taking care of our world community and each other, however close or far away. When you support projects that create positive social change in the world, your big-heartedness can directly impact the direction of someone’s life.
Please take a look my Instagram feed to learn more about my visits to Africa and our project.
https://www.instagram.com/lynnmarlowe/

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Footnotes
1.
Menstrual health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity in relation to the menstrual cycle. Achieving menstrual health implies that women, girls, and all other people who experience a menstrual cycle, throughout their life-course, are able to:
• access accurate, timely, age-appropriate information about the menstrual cycle, menstruation, and changes experienced throughout the life-course, as well as related self-care and hygiene practices.
• care for their bodies during menstruation such that their preferences, hygiene, comfort, privacy, and safety are supported. This includes accessing and using effective and affordable menstrual materials and having supportive facilities and services, including water, sanitation and hygiene services, for washing the body and hands, changing menstrual materials, and cleaning and/or disposing of used materials.
• access timely diagnosis, treatment and care for menstrual cycle-related discomforts and disorders, including access to appropriate health services and resources, pain relief, and strategies for self-care.
• experience a positive and respectful environment in relation to the menstrual cycle, free from stigma and psychological distress, including the resources and support they need to confidently care for their bodies and make informed decisions about self-care throughout their menstrual cycle.
• decide whether and how to participate in all spheres of life, including civil, cultural, economic, social, and political, during all phases of the menstrual cycle, free from menstrual-related exclusion, restriction, discrimination, coercion and/or violence.

2.
UNICEF Fast Facts: Nine things you didn't know about menstruation, 2018
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/fast-facts-nine-things-you-didnt-know-about-menstruation#_edn2

3.
Global Citizen
Period Poverty: Everything You Need to Know, 2019
By Erica Sánchez and Leah Rodriguez
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/period-poverty-everything-you-need-to-know/

4.
Days for Girls
https://www.daysforgirls.org/

5.
Department of Global Health and Population, The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 2015
Women’s Health in Tanzania
https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/ppiud/womens-health-tanzania 

6.
School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London
"Keeping African Girls in School with Better Sanitary Care," 2018
Link to report pdf: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/handle/20.500.12413/13575

7.
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) which seeks to build peace through international cooperation in education, the sciences and culture.
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/39