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Our mission

The Beatrice Project

Restoring dignity and opportunity to young women in Zimbabwe

Our objectives and activities

To provide sanitary protection and training to enable young girls to complete their schooling

The challenge: Helping girls to stay in school once their periods start. That’s not easy when they have no sanitary wear and their education has for centuries been considered to be far less important than the boys.

Addressing the challenge: The provision of sanitary supplies is always supported by teaching and discussion, run by Joy and her team but bringing in experts from time to time. We hugely value the input of local youth worker Bonani Medina and Nobuhle Shumba from the Viva Lily Cup Company.

2022/23: Ntombi Nto (see Our Partners), funded and supported by the Beatrice Project, emerged from the Covid lockdowns and restrictions an even stronger and more determined team. The regular sexual health workshops have continued, as have the distributing of menstrual cups and materials to make washable pads, always fully supported by strategic meetings and consultations with the local communities and relevant authorities. The cultural community heads, mostly men, are leading by example and the boys are now increasingly involved. The two new sites are up and running.

Since 2015, over 2000 girls have been through the Beatrice Project programme and some have gone on to gain qualifications and skills which have helped them to move forward in their lives.