The Journey of a Huru Kit
Distribution Report from Samburu, Kenya
At Huru, we travel all over Africa to deliver menstrual pads and sexual and reproductive health information to girls who need it most. Sometimes inadequate infrastructure and unpredictable weather can make distributions a bit of a challenge for our team. But we always go to great lengths to get our pads to where they need to go despite the circumstances.
Recently our team traveled to Samburu, part of a National Reserve rich with wildlife in Northern Kenya. Here’s what Samburu looks like:
This day turned out to be quite the adventure for our team and it’s a story we’ll always remember. We were amidst Kenya’s wet season and were on our way to distribute 1,000 Huru Kits. Each Huru Kit contains 8 high-quality reusable pads, 3 pairs of underwear, a bar of soap, a resealable bag to wash and store pads, user instructions and basic sexual and reproductive health information.
Frequent rainfall turned the dirt roads to mud roads which, unsurprisingly, led to our vehicle getting stuck in the mud! We had been driving on these roads for several hours and were only 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from the school we were heading to. Despite the team’s best efforts, the car wouldn’t budge. For our team of go-getters, there was no other option than to hike the remaining 5 kilometers with all 1,000 Huru Kits in tow. Periods don’t stop just because circumstances are undesirable, and neither does our resilient team!
It was dusk by the time we started making our way back to the car. It was right where we left it— stuck on the edge of a forest home to elephants and hyenas. Since it wasn’t safe for our team to stay in the area surrounding the car, Huru HQ in Nairobi saved the day by sending a special vehicle to come and transport our team home. At the end of this very long and exciting day, we at Huru still consider this a huge win. In fact, we’d do it all over again.
Why? Because even through the unexpected turns, laborious travel, and hardships, this is the image that sticks out in our minds:
It’s true. We’ll trek through kilometers of wilderness to keep her in school. Period.
To learn more about Huru’s work, visit www.huruinternational.org, or follow along on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
