By A, KNA
At least 150 adolescent girls from Apida slums in Migori town have benefited from sanitary pads donation programme organised by Revival Fire Fellowship Church, in efforts to curb the prevalent early pregnancies in the area.
The programme, spearheaded by Revival Fire Fellowship Church with support from Ebenezer Community Outreach Organisation, has introduced table banking for women groups and adolescent girls.
Members will be able to access small loans to start businesses while receiving sanitary pads for school-going girls.
According to Nyasare Sub-Location Assistant Chief, George Okello, many adolescent girls in the slum have been depending on boda boda riders to obtain pads, a practice that has exposed them to sexual exploitation.
Okello claimed that some parents also take part in giving their adolescent daughters away by obtaining favours from the people who make advances to them.
“By combining provision of pads with income-generating activities, this initiative gives families a chance to be self-reliant,” he said.
Community members, chaired by Sarah Innocent, welcomed the move, noting that it will address not only the immediate need for hygiene products but also the root causes of vulnerability in the area, including poverty, which has caused early pregnancies.
Parents said the savings from pad distribution would help them provide food, while the table banking groups would allow women to build stable sources of income.
Organisers said the approach is designed to reduce reliance on commercial sex, which remains a major source of livelihood in Apida.
Evelyn Necky, a resident of Apida slum and beneficiary of the programme, urged the government to strengthen similar programmes across informal settlements, arguing that economic empowerment is key to ending cycles of poverty and protecting young girls from abuse and exploitation.