All In A Day's Work: Fund Raising, Surgeries, Pad Making, Body Awareness, Saying NO To FGM!

A year ago the cooking club that I was part of, decided to fund raise for good causes that abound in Kenya. We received applications from around ten to fifteen charitable organizations and we chose Amref Health Africa In Kenya. https://amref.org/kenya/
We fund raised via an auction and by cooking delectable food and sold tickets for this exclusive event which was held at Capital Club, Nairobi.

Chefs For The Evening! (Ladies Of The Nairobi Cooking Club)

The Gracious Husbands Who Turned Bearers For The Evening

The Results Of Training Under A Michelin Chef: Mohsine Korich: A Decadent Dessert To Wrap Up The Evening!

A large amount was collected which we handed over to Amref Health Africa In Kenya. A part of this amount was used by them to screen a hundred economically challenged women and conduct fistula surgeries for around fifty of them, at Webuye Referral Hospital, Bungoma County. This was part of their campaign, ' RESTORING HER DIGNITY.

A Surgery In Progress

The ladies of the Cooking Club were invited to Kajiado County to witness Amref Health Africa In Kenya's work first hand in Olentoko, around sixty kilometres away from Nairobi. In the month of August 2018, Amref Health Africa In Kenya conducted a camp for boys and girls to educate them on sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR), life skills, the effects of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), child marriage and teenage pregnancies.
When I received the invitation, I decided to contribute something worthwhile from my side, towards this event. It did not make sense for me to just go just as a guest of honour. I would prefer to conduct an activity with the young girls, boys and women. Amref Health Africa In Kenya liked the idea and so I contacted one of the ladies whose work I had been admiring on FaceBook, Madhvi Dalal. She heads the project 'PadMad' and works with women in rural Kenya.
She was eager to pitch in and help the women there to start a small business which involved making and selling reusable sanitary pads within the community. This would serve a dual purpose: female hygiene and also help the environment by virtue of being eco friendly. Madhvi and I collected all the required material including scraps of cotton fabric,scissors and sewing kits. Another friend, Levina Silva, joined us as a volunteer.

Explaining The Intricacies

Showing Them How To Cut Fabric

Learning To Use A Machine

The Finished Product : Ready For Use Or Sale

We also got a chance to interact with a large group of young girls of different ages. The youngest group was encouraged to do well in school and we talked about the opportunities open to them in the big, wide world.

Love And Laughter

We spoke to the pre and early teens about being aware of their bodies, about saying NO to FGM and child marriage, the good touch and the bad touch and how to protect themselves from sexual predators. The adults too were educated about the repercussions of such practices.

It's Your Body!

The teens and young adults were engaged in a meaningful dialogue where we listened to their aspirations and dreams and gave them hope for a bright future. We had question and answer sessions with them about the social issues in their community.

Young Adults Interactive Workshop

The girls were given a certificate each for having participated in this training.

I was so touched by these young girls that we went back in a day to gift each girl things that we had managed to collect from generous donors in Nairobi, in the span of a day! We gave them various gifts including clothes. The joy on each face was unmatched...