Across Kenya, girls who cannot afford sanitary products - pads or tampons - miss an average of four to five days of school a month, amounting to nearly sixty days in a year. Several studies conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa have shown that simply providing girls with underwear and sanitary pads can increase their chances of staying in school by 20-50%, particularly in rural areas. As part of its commitment to empowering women and youth, the Gina Din Foundation plans to 'adopt' a girls' school in each province of Kenya and provide each student with the sanitary products and health education that she needs.

PHOTO: Nyatwere Primary School, located in Homa Bay County, Kasipul Constituency, Kachien Location. The school has a population of over 500 pupils, majority of whom are from extremely poor backgrounds while others are orphans.  Gina Din Foundation helps the girls in year 7 and 8 by providing them with sanitary pads.

ABOUT

1. Africa Yoga Project is a non-profit based in Kenya, that educates, empowers, elevates, and employs youth using the transformational power of yoga. The vision of Africa Yoga Project is to deliver free teacher trainings and create opportunities for youth to step into their greatness, become self-sustaining and leaders in their communities. The organization employs over seventy-two Kenyan yoga teachers who empower over 6,000 people a week through its 300 free outreach yoga classes. 

Visit www.africayogaproject.org for more information. To be involved, email info@africayogaproject.org.

2. Key projects:

• Teacher Training Program - Delivering free yoga teacher trainings to Kenya's youth to create financial and social empowerment.  We have trained over 200 people for free in 2013. 

• Outreach Program - Africa Yoga Project's 72 employed teachers are required to teach at least five free outreach classes a week. Outreach locations include prisons, special need schools, orphanages, rural villages, and more. The AYP teachers are reaching over 6000 people a week through their 300 free outreach classes.  

• Seva Safari Program- Group service trips giving people from all over the world an opportunity to experience the land and culture of Kenya as well as the mission of Africa Yoga Project. Each 10 to 12 day adventure empowers long-term sustainable projects and is driven by the needs of the local community.  Since the creation of Africa Yoga Project Seva Safari's, the volunteers have helped build schools, latrines, playgrounds, yoga rooms, and train over 200 teachers.

• Mentor Program - The mentor program creates a bridge between our aspiring Kenyan teachers and individuals all over the world. It supports each Kenyan teacher's outreach salary and professional development, fostering dynamic cultural exchange between yoga teachers worldwide. 

3. Gina Din Foundation will support AYP's job creation model.  Our goal is to provide youth employment opportunities by unlocking the market potential of a new tapped industry in Kenya and East Africa - yoga.  By doing this, AYP can offer youth productive roles in their communities, leadership training, education and skills that guide them to well-paying jobs.   

ABOUT

1. Africa Yoga Project is a non-profit based in Kenya, that educates, empowers, elevates, and employs youth using the transformational power of yoga. The vision of Africa Yoga Project is to deliver free teacher trainings and create opportunities for youth to step into their greatness, become self-sustaining and leaders in their communities. The organization employs over seventy-two Kenyan yoga teachers who empower over 6,000 people a week through its 300 free outreach yoga classes. 

Visit www.africayogaproject.org for more information. To be involved, email info@africayogaproject.org.

2. Key projects:

• Teacher Training Program - Delivering free yoga teacher trainings to Kenya's youth to create financial and social empowerment.  We have trained over 200 people for free in 2013. 

• Outreach Program - Africa Yoga Project's 72 employed teachers are required to teach at least five free outreach classes a week. Outreach locations include prisons, special need schools, orphanages, rural villages, and more. The AYP teachers are reaching over 6000 people a week through their 300 free outreach classes.  

• Seva Safari Program- Group service trips giving people from all over the world an opportunity to experience the land and culture of Kenya as well as the mission of Africa Yoga Project. Each 10 to 12 day adventure empowers long-term sustainable projects and is driven by the needs of the local community.  Since the creation of Africa Yoga Project Seva Safari's, the volunteers have helped build schools, latrines, playgrounds, yoga rooms, and train over 200 teachers.

• Mentor Program - The mentor program creates a bridge between our aspiring Kenyan teachers and individuals all over the world. It supports each Kenyan teacher's outreach salary and professional development, fostering dynamic cultural exchange between yoga teachers worldwide. 

3. Gina Din Foundation will support AYP's job creation model.  Our goal is to provide youth employment opportunities by unlocking the market potential of a new tapped industry in Kenya and East Africa - yoga.  By doing this, AYP can offer youth productive roles in their communities, leadership training, education and skills that guide them to well-paying jobs.   

The "Kenyans for Kenya" initiative was a fundraiser that was started in July 2011 by corporate leaders, the Kenya Red Cross and Safaricom in response to media reports of famine and deaths from starvation in Turkana. The target was to raise 500 million, to mitigate the raging famine. The heroes of the day were the ordinary Kenyans, regardless of ethnic group or political affiliation, whose contributions by phone through the M-pesa money transfer service, with donations as low as Sh10 per person, the campaign managed to achieve more than the targeted 500 million.

Gina Din Corporate Communications in partnership with the Kenya Red Cross, Artist Forum and renowned musician, Eric Wainaina developed the campaign dubbed “ Chagua Peace” this was a clarion call for Kenya’s citizens to Vote for Peace no matter their ethno-political preferences. The slogan “Keep the Promise” was adapted in commemoration of the Peace accord signed in 2008. The campaign was guided by the fundamental principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality. It emphasized the importance of tolerance, forgiveness, acceptance and rejection of any violence.

Considering that the Kenya Red Cross was promoting a sign up for peace campaign whose objective was to get Kenyans to commit to peace during and after the oncoming elections, GDCC proposed that it was important to get the buy in of influencers/politicians and thought leaders, with this in mind GDCC hatched a plan to have the eight presidential candidates publicly sign up for peace, the signing of the eight presidential candidates would usher in the roll out of several peace initiatives that would culminate in a concert for peace with some of Kenya’s most celebrated artists bringing together Kenyans to preach the message of peace at Nairobi City’s Uhuru Park.

All said and done, Kenyans kept the promise. The general elections were peaceful.

SHIKA is a youth-lead social enterprise made possible by the generous donation of US based Southwest Airlines and hosted by SOS Children's Village Kenya. Southwest Airlines recently retrofitted 600 planes with new e-leather that is lighter weight and greatly reduces carbon foot print, but they had a dilemma- what to do with the 84,000 high quality leather seat covers that were in very good condition. As luck would have it, a Southwest Airlines executive had attended International School of Kenya in his boyhood and had always longed to give back to the community that he felt shaped him into the person he is today. Gina Din Foundation helped to connect Southwest Airlines with SOS Children's Village Kenya and together with our NGO partners, US based GoodMakers and Homeboyz Foundation- a social enterprise initiative by the name of SHIKA was born.

The goal of SHIKA initiative is to turn the leather donation into jobs by creating a social enterprise that will design and market products made from the leather.

SHIKA is swahili for 'have or take' but it also means in the local urban sheng, 'hot, fresh' or 'cool.' A youth development team is working with our program partners and professional mentors, who are guiding the youth on how to create a business plan for SHIKA, including the design, production and marketing of high quality products using the donated leather. SHIKA products will be produced with commercial and community partners with 100% of the proceeds going back into community based initiatives such as the Ant-Jigger campaign in partnership with Ahadi Trust Foundation and Kenya Red Cross, HIV/Aids prevention by Tackle Africa and Alive & Kicking, and many other worthy causes.

A leather works program will also be established at SOS Technical School in Buru Buru. The leather works program will begin as a pilot program within the existing Fashion & Design program. Once established, the SOS Leather Works Program will be offered as a full length accredited course. With the tannery industry within Kenya rapidly growing, the goal is to provide the youth training that will prepare them to obtain gainful employment in this growth industry.

SHIKA’s mentor and partner Panah is collaborating on creating and implementing the leather program at SOS. With its experience and relationships in global leather industry Panah is brining the know-how and expertise that is necessary for the program success.

Panah is a fashion production house that provides consulting, sourcing and manufacturing services for the global and emerging African fashion brands. Panah is driven by its mission to produce luxury-quality made in Africa. This is achieved through extensive training, local capacity building and creation of ethical employment opportunities for the underprivileged youth and women in Kenya, therefore investing in quality of life and bringing recognition to the human story behind the production of luxury.

We are grateful to our SHIKA mentors Dudusquad Advertising Agency, Panah and Evelyn College of Design for their professional guidance in guiding the SHIKA youth development team.

Through our partnership with Ford Foundation and Nairobi based NGO Pawa254- Gina Din Foundation connects global youth through community based Youth Empowerment programs including; Citizen Journalism Workshops, Performing Arts Programs and Digital Storytelling Boot Camps. This initiative is anchored on the premise that Africa's youth must utilize digital platforms to tell their own stories, or they will lose a vital part of our rich cultural heritage.

• Goodwill Ambassador for The Kenya Red Cross