Female Empowerment
NTS is working to increase female education, and decrease child marriage, female genital cutting (FGC), absenteeism due to menstruation, and gender-based violence (GBV) .
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NTS is working to increase female education, and decrease child marriage, female genital cutting (FGC), absenteeism due to menstruation, and gender-based violence (GBV) .
In rural Kenya, girls and young women living in poverty are at high risk for child or teen marriage, pregnancy, female genital cutting, and gender-based violence. They miss weeks of school due to inadequate menstrual products and infections from using rags.
NTS actively recruits female students, counsels families on the benefits of female education, and provides support programs aimed at changing attitudes and addressing past trauma.
Many families rely on their children’s income for day-to-day survival. When finances are tight, sons are more likely to be sent to school while daughters work or care for the household until they are married.
When meals are provided at school, a daughter’s lost wages are no longer a net-loss to the family.
Once they are in school, families see the long-term economic benefits of vocational education for their daughters.
Attitudes in our village are changing and NTS now has a 50:50 male-to-female student ratio.
Our goal: no NTS student will ever again miss school because of her period.
We are proud to partner with AFRIpads to provide all female students with reusable menstrual products and education.
Each student receives a reusable menstrual kit, free of charge, that offers protection for a full year. Through AFRIpads, NTS holds annual trainings on product use and female reproductive health.
“Education is key to breaking menstrual barriers, addressing taboos, and improving menstrual health and hygiene worldwide.” –AFRIpads
Since women are typically in charge of feeding the household, learning the basics of nutrition is a long-term investment in healthy families.
In addition to three daily meals, we provide nutrition lessons so students learn to create healthy food combinations, to buy and prepare locally available and affordable nutritious foods, and how nutrition needs will change throughout their lives.