The flagship program of Hearts and Hands for Humanity is to provide clean water wells in East Africa. Among other benefits, these wells help reduce illness and deaths, especially child deaths, related to water-borne diseases. The custom-designed human-powered drill allows us to provide clean water at 1/4 the cost of wells provided by other charities. The well sites are chosen strategically to maximize their positive impact, and one of the most strategic places to drill a well is at a school. Since young girls are frequently the ones who are tasked with fetching water for the family, having a well at a school means they can now attend school.

Besides drilling wells, volunteers who travel to Africa with Hearts and Hands for Humanity will often perform additional humanitarian services. One of those services is for female volunteers to deliver reusable feminine hygiene kits to pre-teen and teenage girls and give a presentation on the use of these kits. If the well is drilled a school, then this activity is usually performed at the same school, since that gives volunteers more time to interact with the same students. However, even if the well is not drilled at a school, volunteers will usually do this activity at least once per trip.

Many of the pre-teen and teenage girls in East Africa do not have access to feminine hygiene products. They are required to stay home sitting on cardboard during their cycle. During this time they miss school, church, and all other public events. ​

By providing them with reusable feminine hygiene products, including reusable cups that we acquire in bulk, and reusable pads provided by Days For Girls, the girls are empowered to attend school for an additional 49 days per year. The resuable feminine hygiene kits also have a big impact on their lives because it gives them new social confidence.

Delivering these kits and teaching the girls how to use them in a classroom environment is often performed for groups of about 300 girls, sometimes more.

If it’s a co-ed school, male volunteers will also give a presentation to the young boys at the school at the same time. The presentation for the young boys is often about how to respect young women, making good life choices and preparing for the future.

Another common humanitarian activity is Serving Primary School Lunches. Volunteers might also plant trees, care for gardens, paint a school and do other humanitarian services.

You can help change the lives of young girls in Africa by helping to provide them with reusable feminine hygiene kits. While the reusable pads are provided by Days For Girls, Hearts and Hands for Humanity will also purchase reusable menstrual cups in bulk. Help us shatter the stigma of menstruation so these girls can know that periods are never a problem. These young women are not cursed and they do not have to be secluded and alone during their cycle. Give them the ability to attend school for an additional 49 days per year and empower them with the confidence to engage with society.

The Hearts and Hands for Humanity General Fund helps cover humanitarian activites such as providing reusable feminine hygiene kits, serving primary school lunches and other onsite humanitarian activities performed by volunteers in East Africa. Donate to the general fund today.

Get on a plane and come with us! You can help give a presentation on Days For Girls Kits. Unlike other charities which provide humanitarian work in Africa, Hearts and Hands for Humanity provides an option for donors to actually meet the people they are donating to. You don’t have to donate to some abstract stranger across the ocean that you hope the money will go to. You can go to Africa with us on a Humanitarian Safari and make a real connection with these wonderful people. You’ll see in person the hope and joy that we bring to their lives when we provide them with these life-changing programs.