Venus Cups project is one of the two main missions of Chance at Education Foundation. Within the project we are working on providing menstrual cups and education regarding menstruation for teenage girls in the underprivileged regions of Africa – thereby creating a more seamless transition for those girls to become mature women. With this method we also aim to start to tear down the stigmas of mens
truation in those societies and to create communities where being a woman does not mean one has to be ashamed for something as natural as having a period. First of all, many parts of Africa young women do not have any access to menstrual supplies for the time when they are in their cycle. Because of this phenomenon, 65% of them drops out of school and they never finish their studies. Second, they do not speak about the menstrual cycle, it is something of which people, and especially the girls are ashamed of. Because they do not have any menstrual supplies, they use different leaves, pieces of sponges and rugs, feathers, sand, etc. which often gives them infection. Some of them spend the whole day sitting on the ground in order to prevent getting stains on their clothes, because there, in several cases, water supply is also a big problem, and they cannot clean their clothes. The girls who decide to go to school anyway become a subject of mockery many times because of the blood stains on their clothes. Many of the young girls do not have the money to get these tampons or pads even if those items are available in stores, and have to decide either to have food or to buy supplies for their menstrual cycle. The decision is obvious; food is more important, consequently, many of the girls do not finish their education and accumulate a serious disadvantage, regardless of the fact that they are ambitious and motivated to do so. Another big problem concerning this issue is the fact that the women in Kenya have to walk long distance to get water, and when they are in their menstrual cycle, in some case even schools do not have water supply. The girls, while being in school cannot afford skipping class to wash their menstrual supplies, but have to do so in order to not get an infection. This means that even the girls which have reusable menstrual supplies are having issues with using them, because if they skip class too many times, they fall behind and drop out of school. For the above mentioned problems, Venus Cup is trying to provide solution by distributing menstrual cups to the less fortunate. The menstrual cups have been present since the 1950’s and they are the perfect solution to this problem. The menstrual cups are made of silicone or thermoplastic elastomer, which are reusable materials and designed to last for up to 10 years. Since the cups are usable for 10 years they help to reduce solid waste, which is also a big problem in Africa. The cups need to be cleaned every eight hours, which means that the girls could perfectly attend class also during their period. These items do not absorb anything and are easy to clean, therefore reducing the possibility of infections. In order to make progress with our activities, we are continuously looking to build mutually beneficial partnerships with for-profit companies, non-profit organizations, and private individuals as well. If you would like to know more about us or you would like to contribute to our operation in any way please do not hesitate to contact us. Chance at Education is a registered Dutch foundation (KVK: 69382654).
