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Earth Day Event: Umande Trust X Kidani Youth Venture

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  Written By: Sophie Stowe and Alexa Storzinger      This Earth Day, Umande Trust partnered with Kidani Youth Venture to run an all day event focused on engaging youth in informal settlements on the issues of climate change. We ran the event out of the KID YOT biocenter in Kibra, Nairobi and had over 40 kids in attendance. It was a fruitful day full of smiles and learning that we can’t wait to share with you.      A bit more about Kidani Youth Venture (KYV): Joy and Edwin are the founders. They met at a conference a few years ago at a time when Edwin had his heart set on leaving Kibra forever to find better opportunities elsewhere. However, when Joy shared her inspiring philosophy with Edwin, he was convinced to stay. Now they run KYV together, driven and directed by Joy’s vision of making Kibra a place that people want to live and are proud of. This vision for Kibra and understanding of the importance of education and youth, drives the activities run on the regular by KYV. Using the s
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Interview with Rose Muthoni: Education, Tree Hill Biocenter, and Climate Awareness

Written By: Sophie Stowe Interview By: Sophie Stowe and Alexa Storzinger                Tree Hill is one of Umande Trust’s Biocenters in Kibra that is currently under construction and is being built next to the Tree Hill school. The Biocenter will allow the students to have improved access to toilets and provide a more supportive, comfortable learning space. Rose Muthoni is the principal and founder of the Tree Hill school. Rose started Tree Hill School due to the demand for early education and daycare in her neighborhood.  “Despite the government-provided public schools, you still had children roaming around not going to school” What started out as a daycare, has now grown to employ a few teachers and support kids from preschool to third grade, the oldest kids in attendance being about ten years old. Miss Rose’s observation of the community’s needs led to not only the creation of the school, but also the creation of the Tree Hill organization, which is made up of teachers, parents, a
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Earth Day 2022: Invest in Our Planet

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Written By:  Sophie Stowe and Alexa Storzinger Introduction to Earth Day: Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22nd in order to honor and raise awareness for the environmental movement. Earth Day activities and celebrations are facilitated by the Earth Day Network (EDN). The first Earth Day (ED) was held in the United States in 1970, and ever since Earth Day has been used as a tool for individuals to focus on our planet as well as celebrate milestones in sustainability. The EDN was founded on the premise that all people, regardless of race, gender, income, or geography, have a moral right to a healthy, sustainable environment. This mission is pursued through education, public policy, and activism in order to hopefully one day achieve those goals Earth Day is also a great way to think and reflect about what is working in society and what is not in regards to our environment, what else can be done, as well as educating people on why environmental activism is important.  Every year
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
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World Water Day 2022 and Conserving Groundwater in Kibra

This year's theme for World Water Day is ‘Groundwater - Making the Invisible Visible.’ It is important to focus on groundwater because though it is often out of sight, it is one of our greatest resources. Populations around the world rely on groundwater for basic needs and to sustain life. According to the Groundwater Project, 2.5 billion people depend on groundwater alone to fulfil their daily Water needs. Every ecosystem around the world which supports life is sustained by groundwater. The major threats to groundwater include agricultural, waste, and industrial pollution, the effects of which make groundwater undrinkable. Climate change is also a threat to groundwater; increased rainfall creates flooding which can cause biocontamination of groundwater, and drought lowers the Water table to an inaccessible point. The conservation of one of our greatest resources should be a priority in order to allow the continued use of Water. Conservation is defined as prevention of wasteful use
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Importance of Investing in Menstrual Hygiene

Written by Jenny Jecrois- Roughly 500 million girls and women globally face limited access to managing their menstruation, according to the FSG report . The Menstrual Health in Kenya Analysis reports that 65% of women are unable to afford sanitary pads, 50% of girls openly discuss menstruation at home, 32% of rural schools have facilities available for menstrual needs, and only 12% of girls feel comfortable receiving menstrual information from their mothers. There is a significant barrier to menstrual hygiene management (MHM) across Kenya, and it considerably harms girls and women living in low-income areas.   Fortunately, the importance of menstrual health is no longer unnoticed by global health organizations as they acknowledge that menstrual health is a matter of human rights. The report, Making the Case for Investing in Menstrual Health and Hygiene , is part of the growing effort in advancing menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) needs. In this report, it is stated that despite the i
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Period Poverty Enhanced during COVID-19 and the Closing of Schools

09 March 2021 --- by Jenny Jecrois Anyone that menstruates requires sanitary products and access to hygienic facilities. However, young girls and women are ripped away from the opportunity to safely and comfortably manage their menses, this is called period poverty.  Schools are back in session in Kenya after a nine-month shut down as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Thousands of learners have failed to return back to school which has caused great fear. Many reports from All Africa have presumed that girls aged 10-19 years old have the lowest student turnout due to pregnancies that occurred between January to September 2020. Other learners took jobs in the farming and trade industries, which could also contribute to the small turnout in school attendance according to the same article. Covid-19 has emphasized scarce hygienic and sanitary products that already existed prior to the global pandemic. Therefore, the low student turn out especially for young women should be no surprise as
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