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Is Access Enough? Creating a water filter supply chain in Laos

  There are 844 million people who are are currently living without access to safe drinking water. In order to access safe drinking water in Laos, 80 percent of households must boil their water due to the overwhelming presence of harmful chemicals and waste. Pencils of Promise (PoP) believes that providing access to clean water is the most effective way to ensure students, schools and communities have sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) knowledge and practices. By providing water filters in Laos, PoP is often establishing the only access points for  potable  drinking water for students and teachers. BUT IS ACCESS ENOUGH? The PoP Laos WASH team has answered: no. In providing water filters, not only does PoP need to establish access for schools, but also needs to ensure materials and facilities are sustainable, safe and reliable. To ensure this, the Laos team took a closer look at the water filters being provided to schools. Previously the team delivered water ...
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Rompiendo el paradigma de la menstruación / Breaking the menstruation paradigm

  Soy la tercera hija de una familia de dos padres y cuatro hermanos. Mis hermanos y yo nacimos en una pequeña aldea de Suchitepéquez en donde las personas aún dicen “buenos días” cuando encuentran a otras en la calle. Una aldea en donde el principal sustento de las familias, es sus cultivos y donde a diario se ve la inocencia de los niños corriendo por las calles y jugando hasta el anochecer. Pero en esta inocencia de los niños también va impregnada la ignorancia que es fomentada a diario por un sin número de paradigmas que se viven en este tipo de aldeas y que le roban a los niños, la oportunidad de conocer y aprender de temas que forman parte de lo natural de la vida.  Yo no soy la excepción del impacto de esos paradigmas. No puedo olvidar una tarde en la que el ropero de mi mamá estaba abierto y se alcanzaba a ver un paquetito azul y blanco que llamó mi atención.  Solo tenía siete años y la curiosidad era parte de todos mis días; caminé y agarré el paquetito para sabe...
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Pads of Promise: An analysis of student perceptions on menstrual hygiene education in Ghana

  I first heard about menstruation when I was in Junior High School. I learned about it when a girl in my class was teasing another girl who was having (what I later learned) was menstrual cramps. I approached the girl who was in pain to ask what was happening to her, as she held her abdomen with both hands and put her head on the desk. But I was scolded by the other female classmates and was told to stay away. One girl told me the girl in pain was experiencing ‘women illness,’ so I asked her what that was. She quickly yelled at me and told me to stay away and out of their business, without explanation. At that moment I had the feeling that I was asking too much. Not long after, I saw the girl who was experiencing the cramps pick up her bag and leave for home. For the next four days, she never came to school. Filled with mixed thoughts, I approached a male friend who was in the same class as me and asked him what he knew about ‘women illness,’ to which he replied that he didn’t kno...
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Popular posts from this blog

Is Access Enough? Creating a water filter supply chain in Laos

  There are 844 million people who are are currently living without access to safe drinking water. In order to access safe drinking water in Laos, 80 percent of households must boil their water due to the overwhelming presence of harmful chemicals and waste. Pencils of Promise (PoP) believes that providing access to clean water is the most effective way to ensure students, schools and communities have sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) knowledge and practices. By providing water filters in Laos, PoP is often establishing the only access points for  potable  drinking water for students and teachers. BUT IS ACCESS ENOUGH? The PoP Laos WASH team has answered: no. In providing water filters, not only does PoP need to establish access for schools, but also needs to ensure materials and facilities are sustainable, safe and reliable. To ensure this, the Laos team took a closer look at the water filters being provided to schools. Previously the team delivered water ...
Read more

Pads of Promise: An analysis of student perceptions on menstrual hygiene education in Ghana

  I first heard about menstruation when I was in Junior High School. I learned about it when a girl in my class was teasing another girl who was having (what I later learned) was menstrual cramps. I approached the girl who was in pain to ask what was happening to her, as she held her abdomen with both hands and put her head on the desk. But I was scolded by the other female classmates and was told to stay away. One girl told me the girl in pain was experiencing ‘women illness,’ so I asked her what that was. She quickly yelled at me and told me to stay away and out of their business, without explanation. At that moment I had the feeling that I was asking too much. Not long after, I saw the girl who was experiencing the cramps pick up her bag and leave for home. For the next four days, she never came to school. Filled with mixed thoughts, I approached a male friend who was in the same class as me and asked him what he knew about ‘women illness,’ to which he replied that he didn’t kno...
Read more

Rompiendo el paradigma de la menstruación / Breaking the menstruation paradigm

  Soy la tercera hija de una familia de dos padres y cuatro hermanos. Mis hermanos y yo nacimos en una pequeña aldea de Suchitepéquez en donde las personas aún dicen “buenos días” cuando encuentran a otras en la calle. Una aldea en donde el principal sustento de las familias, es sus cultivos y donde a diario se ve la inocencia de los niños corriendo por las calles y jugando hasta el anochecer. Pero en esta inocencia de los niños también va impregnada la ignorancia que es fomentada a diario por un sin número de paradigmas que se viven en este tipo de aldeas y que le roban a los niños, la oportunidad de conocer y aprender de temas que forman parte de lo natural de la vida.  Yo no soy la excepción del impacto de esos paradigmas. No puedo olvidar una tarde en la que el ropero de mi mamá estaba abierto y se alcanzaba a ver un paquetito azul y blanco que llamó mi atención.  Solo tenía siete años y la curiosidad era parte de todos mis días; caminé y agarré el paquetito para sabe...
Read more