Empowering Girls in Cameroon

Since the day Lena was conceptualized, I had made it my intention and mission to improve women's lives – regardless of their location, age, race, economic background, or religion. Women are women and they all have the right to healthy, conscious and comfortable period care.

While women in the developed world have access to and can easily choose various forms of period products, in developing countries, this is far from the reality. In Doula, Cameroon only 50% of all adolescent girls attend primary school and only 32% of them go on to enroll in a secondary school. Out of these girls, each one misses an average of four school days per month due to the lack of menstrual care and the shame associated with menstruation.

The Community Development Network (CDM), a youth-lead, not-for-profit, NGO organization in Cameroon has made it their mission to empower girls by offering them sustainable menstrual products and education. The Center offers information about female and period health in order to reduce cultural shame often surrounding menstruation. When the CDM reached out to us at Lena with a donation request, we saw this opportunity as the perfect partnership – two organizations joining forces to combat the menstrual taboo while empowering girls to handle their periods in the most conscious, healthy and safe ways. While CDM provided the field training and education, at Lena we donated 500 Lena Cups for the girls.

The Lena Cups were distributed to women in poor and marginalized areas within the community, in an effort to provide them with a healthy and conscious menstrual option, along with the education on how to use the product. The access to these Lena cups will play a key role in giving girls the opportunity to stay in school and normalize menstruation within their community.

At Lena we know that every effort counts and believe in empowering young women to make better choices for themselves, their community and their country.