How 100 Women in Kenya Gained Dignity and Choice
Sustain Her Cycle
Impact review by Nyasaina Kwamboka & Grace Kiarie
Migration Youth and Children Platform (MYCP)
How 100 Women in Kenya Gained Dignity and Choice
Sustain Her Cycle
Impact review by Nyasaina Kwamboka & Grace Kiarie
Migration Youth and Children Platform (MYCP)
Thanks to the Migration Youth and Children Platform (MYCP), the African Environmental Youth Advisory (AEYA) had the opportunity to positively impact the lives of 100 women and girls in Kenya. Among them were refugee women living in Nairobi, as well as women and girls from internally displaced and low-income communities in Laikipia County. Through Sustain Her Cycle, a climate-smart menstrual health program, these women gained access to sustainable menstrual products, knowledge, confidence, and community.
Sustain Her Cycle is a climate-smart initiative designed to advance women's rights by addressing period poverty through education and access to menstrual cups. At its core, our program promotes dignity, independence, and sustainability. By introducing the Mina menstrual cup, a safe, long-term alternative to disposable menstrual products, the program transforms menstruation from a source of limitation into one of empowerment.
The Mina menstrual cup anchors our program. It is:
Made from medical-grade silicone and is hypoallergenic
Safe and efficient, offering 6–12 hours of leak-free protection
Economical, with one cup lasting up to five years compared to over 2,000 disposable pads
Environmentally sustainable, reducing plastic waste and landfill burden
It allows women to have a dignified and independent menstrual cycle, turning period poverty into period positivity.
For these reasons, Sustain Her Cycle exists to enhance the health, agency, and well-being of women and girls while promoting climate resilience.
This MYCP-endorsed program was implemented in Nairobi on 23rd July and 13th August 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., at the Dagoretti South Empowerment Centre in Kawangware, across the two sessions. The sessions were conducted in partnership with Refugee Women in Nairobi, a community-based organization supporting women who have fled conflict, persecution, and displacement from countries including Somalia, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Burundi.
For AEYA, a youth-led organization, this marked vibrant new chapter. It was the first time the team worked extensively with urban refugees and older women, including mothers and grandmothers. Building this partnership required trust, careful coordination, and mutual respect. We started with initial phone calls and virtual meetings to formal agreements. The leadership of Refugee Women in Nairobi entrusted AEYA and the Mina Foundation to introduce a product that was entirely new to many participants.
We had a beautiful array of women with a diversity of lived experiences. Some women had grown children or were navigating menopause, while others arrived with toddlers. Younger women who had not yet given birth sat alongside mothers and caregivers. Despite these differences, the sessions were intentionally inclusive and intergenerational, ensuring every woman felt seen and supported.
To enable comfort and understanding, the trainings were conducted in both English and Kiswahili, languages that resonated most with participants.
Storytelling played a powerful role in the sessions. Grace, an ecologist and women's rights educator with AEYA, shared her experience of growing up and lacking resources to purchase menstrual products. At first, she felt ashamed, having been in an urban setting and not been able to afford a daily necessity, yet she watched other girls have options of tampons and even scented pads that she'd never laid eyes upon. The kindness of a friend to share with her this basic need through out primary school became a catalyst for her commitment to ending period poverty. Today, Grace works with Naipereri Primary School in Laikipia, providing menstrual products and mentorship to girls who might otherwise miss school due to lack of access. As a team lead of Sustain Her Cycle, her logo is "empowered women empower women."
Nyasaina Kwamboka, economist, environmental researcher, and founder of AEYA, shared her own journey with menstrual health after experiencing burns from the chemicals and plastic in disposable pads. Her college friends encouraged her to switch to a menstrual cup over five years ago and she has never looked back. Through humor and honesty, she connected deeply with participants while explaining the environmental impacts of pads and tampons and how they repsectively take 800 and 500 years each to decompose. When improperly disposed, they make the ground infertile. She explained that in urban settings, disposable plastics often clog drainage systems. These blockages lead to flooding and bioaccumulation, as plastic waste breaks down and enters waterways, where it is ingested by animals. Over time, these chemicals move up the food chain and eventually end up in our bodies, causing long-term harm to human health. Her dedication to menstrual cups as a low-carbon solution is one that amplifies her dedication.
Halima Alinoor, environmental scientist, advisor, and team lead at AEYA, reflected on growing up in Marsabit, a hot and remote region where disposable menstrual products often caused discomfort and made travel difficult. Coming from a pastoralist community where menstruation is often considered taboo, Halima emphasized the importance of breaking the silence across generations. Beyond working with over 500 young women in Turkana, in July 2025, she facilitated a collaboration between AEYA and three community colleges in Marsabit, mentoring young women and supporting the distribution of 120 menstrual cups. Coming from a pastolist community where there are a lot of myths and misconceptions around Sexual Reproductive Health and rights. Mothers and their daughters have been conditioned to view menstruation as a taboo topic. She wants to change this narrative and believes that steady and intentional progress will make the change we need to see in our communities.
Yvonne, our mentor from the Mina Foundation, connected effortlessly with the women in the room. Her honesty about her heavy menstrual flow, due to her motherhood journey. Her life-changing moment came when she came in contact with the Mina Cup, and she finally experienced a comfortable menstrual cycle when she discovered the menstrual cup. Since it's chemical-free, it has helped regulate her cycle overtime from 7 days to around 4 days now, unlike when she used pads and tampons. She delivered a detailed and practical training session on how tampons and menstrual pads can be harmful to the body and how they can cause irritation. She also explained how menstrual towels and tampons distributed to the Global South are usually of a lower grade than the manufacturers claim and some companies that manufacture disposable pads have been sued for causing severe harm to women by giving them boils, burns, rashes, and infections.
She later followed up with a detailed training on the Mina menstrual cup, including how to insert it, fold it, and try different positions, as well as how to disinfect and store it, all while normalizing the conversation around menstruation. For many participants, this was their first time hearing about menstrual cups and their curiosity, laughter, and questions filled the room.
Informational pamphlet that comes with each menstrual cup
The Sustain Her Cycle training included:
A practical comparison between pads, tampons, and menstrual cups
A transparent and authentic conversation about women's rights, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) , Mental health and cultural taboos, myths and misconceptions, the value of sisterhood, and personal stories.
Distribution of menstrual cups and informational pamphlets.
Small group discussions demonstrating various fold techniques, insertion positions, and care.
Each woman received a menstrual cup, with some taking additional cups home for their daughters. One participant bravely shared, "Some women I know are forced to share washable pads just to make it through their cycle." Her words captured the quiet reality many women endure behind closed doors.
As the sessions came to a close, the space filled with laughter, shared snacks, exchanged phone numbers, and warm embraces. A WhatsApp group was created that same day to allow participants to stay connected and share their experiences as they began using the Mina menstrual cup.
Sustain Her Cycle goes beyond being a menstrual health program. It is a growing circle of sisterhood, resilience, and sustainable change. Following the Nairobi trainings, the next phase of the program will support 48 students, mothers, and teachers at Naipereri Primary School in Laikipia County, extending this impact to rural communities.
AEYA extends deep gratitude to the Migration Youth and Children Platform for their trust, endorsement, and support in making this work possible.