The Omicron Iota Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, Inc., is fundraising for ZanaAfrica, a nonprofit organization that helps provide reproductive health education and resources to young women in Kenya.
Each year approximately 1 million school-aged Kenyan girls miss up to 6 months of school because of their menstrual cycles. Without proper reproductive health education and resources, these young women have little to no means of handling the tough transition into puberty and womanhood.
One sorority at Elon is looking to help change that.
The Omicron Iota Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. has started a campaign to bring awareness and raise money for this issue. Along with other chapters of their sorority in surrounding states, the women of the Omicron Iota Chapter are fundraising on behalf of ZanaAfrica, a non-profit organization that directly combats these issues in Kenya. Their philanthropy project officially kicks off in March.
According to the organization’s website, ZanaAfrica’s vision is simple: “a world where girls in East Africa live healthy, safe, educated lives while defining their own purpose-a world in which menstrual health management is recognized as a human right, and the onset of puberty as the most effective time to engage girls in a range of personal health decisions.”
ZanaAfrica supports this vision in three ways: providing reproductive health education, supporting community based organizations with the same mission, and leading policy change around accessibility of education and resources.
The women of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., as well as most women in the United States, are privileged to living in a country where reproductive health is comprehensive and sanitary products are widely available. They are also attend an award-winning institution of higher learning, where missing class is a choice, not a burden of womanhood.
Join the Omicron Iota Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. on March 16, at 6:10 p.m. in Alamance 205 for a presentation about ZanaAfrica that will leave you with a better understanding of the everyday challenges these young women face.