Empower & Educate the Girls of Rural Kisumu

Dear Donor,

This report is a little different from our usual updates.

Rather than beginning with numbers alone, we invite you behind the scenes, into the preparation, the conversations, and challenges that make each Girls’ Empowerment Workshop possible. In the report that follows, you will step into the heart of the work: what happens long before the workshops begin, the challenges we navigate on the ground, and the transformation we witness through our team's eyes.

As we look ahead, we are also preparing for our upcoming Little by Little Campaign, a fundraising campaign to further  strengthen girls’ access to education and ensure that the support they receive today translates into lasting opportunity tomorrow.

Reflecting on the Past Year

In 2025, our project served 773 girls and mothers. Each girl received a sanitary kit containing:

• 5 reusable pads lasting 12 to 18 months
• 2 pairs of underwear
• Soap
• A Girl Talk Booklet

For many girls, these kits prevent monthly absenteeism and protect their ability to remain consistently in school. 

Read the full impact report here: 773 Girls: Education, Empowerment, Impact

But as our Project Lead, Flavian, reminds us: “The kit is the final step. The real work begins long before workshop day.”

Mobilization: The First Step

“It all starts with mobilization,” Flavian explains.

The team works closely with partner teachers to identify girls from vulnerable households. Many girls lack a consistent female figure in their lives. Some live with grandmothers or relatives. Others are raised by fathers alone, where conversations around menstrual health require careful and respectful communication.

To protect each girl and ensure the kit remains in her hands, safeguarding protocols require that she attend with a verified parent or legal guardian. This protects her safety and ensures accountability for the support provided.

“We encourage girls to bring a guardian,” Flavian explains. “But sometimes fathers send neighbours.”

In such cases, without proper verification, the team has had to make the difficult decision to turn girls away.

Safeguarding always comes first.

Transport presents another barrier. Some families live far from the venue and cannot afford the fare. When teachers are overstretched, the team calls parents individually, explaining why their presence matters.

“This is why our workshops are culturally grounded,” Flavian reflects. “Empowerment here is not just about information. It is about building trust first.”

Prepping for the Day

When asked what helps her prepare, Flavian reflects on a piece of advice from our CEO: “Visualise the day.”

From registration to kit distribution, she mentally walks through every step. This intentional planning brings clarity, but it also demands energy. “By the time the workshop begins, I’m sometimes already exhausted,” she shares. And even with preparation, unpredictability remains. Participants arrive late. Schedules shift. On one occasion, the venue was perfectly set up, but the kits were delayed in transit, forcing the team to adapt quickly.

After every session, the team gathers immediately to debrief, identifying what worked and what must improve. Each workshop strengthens the next. “I’ve learned to delegate more, to trust the team, and to focus on leading rather than managing every detail,” Flavian says. One lesson stands out clearly: strong community mobilisation determines how the entire day unfolds. Each workshop requires weeks of coordination with schools, teachers, and families.

The Power of Stories

Flavian often speaks about the power of stories. The conversations she holds with mothers, girls, scholars, and facilitators do not end when the workshop closes, and they stay with her. She revisits them in her mind, reflecting not just on what was said, but how it was said, and what it reveals about the realities these families carry.

Reflecting on the sessions, she recalls how mothers and daughters began opening their hearts in ways few had before. Some spoke hesitantly at first, then more freely. Many cried, uncontrollably, as they shared truths they had carried silently for years.

One mother later said in Luo that it felt as though her “soul had opened.” In that moment, she said, it felt magical, like it was just her and her daughter in the room, and nothing else existed.

This year, it is the stories of the Girls’ Empowerment mothers that have shaped Flavian deeply, reminding her that this work is not only about sanitary kits, but about people, resilience, and growth on all sides.

The Work You Do Not Always See

This past year, Flavian also witnessed the fundraising side of the work, sitting in donor meetings and seeing firsthand how much unseen effort sustains each workshop. “You can tell when someone is not interested,” she says honestly. “It makes you understand how much belief this work depends on.”

And that belief begins with you.

Your partnership sustains not only supplies, but the phone calls, the home visits, the verification process, and the trust-building conversations that happen before a girl ever receives her kit.

Celebrating the Power of the Crowd

From March 17–20, your generosity can stretch further during GlobalGiving’s Little by Little Campaign.

All unique donations up to $50 will be matched at 50%, while matching funds remain.

• $10 becomes $15
• $20 becomes $30
• $50 becomes $75

A $15 matched gift protects one girl’s school attendance for up to 18 months with a full sanitary kit: five reusable pads lasting up to 18 months, underwear, soap, and a Girl Talk booklet, protecting her education from monthly interruption.

Little by little, your support ensures she stays in school and steps forward with confidence.

Mark your calendars! For more information, you can reach out to us at info@therahulkotakfoundation.org

Links:

• Become a Recurring Donor
• Mar 17 - 20 | Little By Little Campaign
• Read More Stories of Change