Mathare Girl Power Project

Poverty and lack of support and services leaves women and young girls in a vulnerable position. Poverty forces women and girls to make difficult choices. How do you sustain a family with no funds? How do you provide for a family when you have no qualifications to enable you to find work?

DonateOur Projects

What we do

Poverty stricken families in rural Kenya and informal settlements in Nairobi lack support and access to vital services which means that girls are particularly vulnerable. Poverty means having to choose between providing food for the family or sending girls to school. High costs of school uniforms and school fees means that girls’ school attendance depends on whether parents can afford these fees. Girls without sanitary protection remain housebound during their periods and miss out on valuable education during their periods and this affects their ability to learn and achieve at school.

In rural areas girls are more likely to drop out of school early and be forced into early marriages. Also teenage pregnancies and infections with HIV/ AIDS are common and girls are more at risk of sexual exploitation.

Our Empowerment Program  supports, educates and empowers girls to improve their lives by making more informed choices. Our mentors work together with teachers  and coaches, providing knowledge and support about sexuality, sexual and menstrual health, HIV/aids, puberty, advocacy and support with sensitive and difficult issues. 

Where we work

Mathare is one of the largest and oldest informal settlements in Nairobi. It is an expansive slum only a few square miles which houses more than half a million people in Nairobi, Kenya.  Inhabitants have inadequate housing, very basic services and poor access to safe drinking water and sanitation.

We work in nine schools in Mathare and our outreach schools are situated in five rural counties spread around Kenya. These are:

  • Busia County
  • Kajiado County
  • Kisumo County
  • Njeri County
  • Migori County

Breakfast Program

Providing a daily breakfast for the poorest schoolchildren in the Mathare slums

Menstruation Program

Fighting period poverty

Mentorship Program

Empowering girls through mentorship and education

We run 3 programmes

We are able to invest in these girls’ futures thanks to donations from Contribute foundation, fundraising events and private donations. For specific information on how the funds are spent see the page ‘annual report’. If you would like to support us and help invest in these girls’ futures, you can donate here!

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Our goals are

High quality Education

Providing high quality educational to all girls joining the program.

Training teachers

Training teachers as mentors and peer mentors, who will continue supporting and mentoring girls now and in the future

Reusable sanitary protection

Providing sanitary protection in the form of underwear and washable- reusable sanitary protection to all girls who join our Empowerment Program

Education and advice

Providing education and advice about menstruation and menstrual health

Local Community

Involving the local community as an aid to reducing stigma around problems faced by girls.

Providing breakfasts

Providing a daily porridge breakfasts to all poverty stricken school children in our 9 Nairobi schools

The latest news

Here we try to update you when possible about the journey.