Her Period Shouldn’t End Her Future
"Our school now looks like the ones I used to see only in pictures."
At 13, Glory dreamed of becoming a teacher. But when she reached puberty, her period began to take her education away — one missed school day at a time.
In her rural community of Endabash, Tanzania, menstruation wasn’t just a taboo; it was a barrier. In her school, there were no doors on the toilets. No water. No sanitary pads. No privacy. And menstruation was a monthly nightmare.
When Glory got her period, she stayed home, like most girls in her village. She missed days that turned into months of lost learning, fell behind in class, and watched her dreams drift further away.
Girls used to wash their sanitary cloths in secret and hid them under their mattresses but the unhygienic conditions often led to infections.
“Period time can be stressful,” she said quietly. “You’re scared you’ve messed up your skirt... scared the boys will laugh.”
With little knowledge about menstruation, many girls risked their health using unclean cloths. Others, desperate to avoid humiliation, offered sex in exchange for sanitary pads.
But things started to change. Thanks to sponsors, a different future unfolded.
Glory’s school now has new toilets with doors, clean water, handwashing taps, and even access to emergency pads. There is also education for both girls and boys on puberty and reproductive health.
Glory now walks into school not in fear, but with confidence.
Since 2021, child sponsors have helped transform learning for hundreds of girls in Glory’s region, from eight new classrooms, a school kitchen, and library, to reusable pad-making clubs run by the students themselves.
And the change doesn’t stop at the school gates.
Sponsorship supports community-wide transformation, teaching families about girls’ rights, supporting farmers with better harvests, and ensuring access to clean water and healthcare.
When you sponsor one girl, you help change an entire community.
Right now, 1,000 girls like Glory still face a cruel choice: stay silent in shame or fall behind in school.