M.R.P. student Andy Arnold has been a project manager for “Ruby in the Rift“, which is a menstrual hygiene management campaign being led by fellow Cornell Alum Alyssa O’Connor. Alyssa is part of the non-profit foundation Cross World Africa, Inc, which has spent the past decade organizing various community development projects in urban and rural Kenya. Alyssa works directly with local schools and teachers in the impoverished regions of western Kenya to establish menstrual hygiene management workshops. These workshops provide young schoolgirls with reusable menstrual cups and puberty guidance in an effort to help build confidence, shatter taboos, and curb inequality in education.
Recently, Arnold shared a piece on the organization’s blog on the role of men in menstrual health management. He shares his own perspective of working with Kenya. Particularly, he witnessed how the involvement of men in these management programs have resulted in more progress, thus diminishing the taboo that is strongly associated with menstrual health.
Andy’s post can be found on the blog section of the Ruby in the Rift’s website. You can read it by clicking here.