Ending Period Poverty Starts With Us, Partnership with PadMad Kenya
- Matt Hund
- Sep 24
- 4 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
We at the Uplift Travel Foundation are proud to stand alongside community leaders and activists working to address the locally identified needs of rural Kenya, and we’re humbled by the good works we have become part of through involvement with local visionaries in our key areas of impact. Among them:
Featured Partner: Madhvi Dalal, PadMad Kenya
Madhvi Dalal knows when a girl stays in school, everything changes: Her health outlook improves, income potential grows and her future children are more likely to thrive in their own lives. That’s why in 2019, she started PadMad Kenya to help connect women and girls with both the resources and the education they need to, "Bleed with Pride. Period.”
The work of this social entrepreneur has won her 10 international awards and garnered invitations to speak on multiple social platforms — including the Zero Waste Forum in Turkey, Turin Global Summit, World Economic Forum in Devos, Switzerland and Uplift Mara Week in Northern Michigan.
PadMad empowers marginalized women to manufacture reusable, biodegradable sanitary kits. The latest factories are based inside and outside prisons, working to empower incarcerated women. With partners that now include the Northern Michigan-based Uplift Travel Foundation, pads are distributed along with education throughout Kenya. To date, PadMad has impacted 150,000 people with more than 800,000 reusable pads distributed — which also increased school attendance by more than 3.5 million days and prevented some 72 million single-use plastic pads from ending up in landfills.
Much of this has been accomplished through the generosity of donors and hard work of local champions like Madhvi, working every day to empower girls and women in the Maasai Mara of Kenya. To learn more, read the Q&A with Madhvi and hear from girls currently participating in the program down below. And remember: Donations of just $10 provide a sanitary kit with multiple pads — lasting a girl an estimated six years — as well as a pair of underwear and soap for washing. If you’d like to donate, visit UpliftTravel.org/Donate.
5 Questions with Madhvi, In Her Own Words
What have you seen changing over time as your work has expanded?
The seed was planted in 2018, but by the time we formalized and became PadMad as we know it now, it was 2021. I have so many stories I can share. When we first went to Samburu during COVID, girls were so shy. Teen pregnancies were so high because of transactional sex for pads and the community was almost forgotten. Year on year, girls have been getting louder, prouder and more confident overall. This year, I was overwhelmed when the boys had composed and were performing a song called “Red,” about how beautiful menstruation is. Girls recited poems in front of male elders and teachers. This has been a real change.
Have you set long-term goals, perhaps numbers of women and girls you hope to reach?
Our school surveys now show 100 percent attendance after girls receive the pad kits. The impact speaks for itself.
My bigger dream is bold: to eradicate period poverty in this generation, globally. Period.
What is the value of partnerships like the one with the Uplift Travel Foundation?
The connection helps to amplify each others' vision and dreams. Uplift heard and felt our story, and now they're creating a wonderful space which supports all of us in making positive change for dignity. I wish all travel partners could share their ethos; it is simple yet so powerful. They guide their participants to not just see a country, but also feel it — to see the community, share meals, listen to stories, forge friendships. Uplift is intentional in sharing the richness of the country and her people. This kind of exchange carries PadMad's mission further than we could alone.
What are you most looking forward to in Michigan this October?
I am excited to meet up with Uplift Co-Founders Kim and Tanja: They are real life heroes. Being around them makes me want to move even faster and further. I look forward to sharing my experiences in Kenya with all who are interested, and making real friendships on behalf of the girls and women in Kenya. At the end of the day, it's all about dignity. We all deserve dignity.
What can you tell us about the award-winning documentaries you’ve been featured in?
They bring forward the voices of girls who have faced silence and stigma — and yet they rise with dignity when given a chance. I hope they spark conversations that touch hearts. At Cannes, I saw people who were so moved they felt that solutions can be simple, yet life changing. They wanted to be part of this change.
Hear their voices, Girls of the Mara
The issue of period poverty is no longer theoretical once you hear even one voice of a girl who has struggled to go to school without access to menstrual pads, who perhaps has even turned to asking for money from boys (money that doesn't come without a cost) to buy a pad or two to make it to school for a critical lesson or test.
These girls from Olkimitare Junior School say they're so relieved now. They have washable pads, thanks to a May 2025 gift and training provided by the partnership between the Uplift Travel Foundation and PadMad Kenya.
Lydia said the improvised cloths she'd try using during her period would leak, so she'd stay home three or four days each month. Now she misses no school and can comfortably learn from classmates. Magdaline, also from the village of Aitong in the Maasai Mara said having washable pads lets her stay in school and keep up with classmates and learning.
Lonah sends her thanks to donors for valuing her and the other girls — and for caring about them. “We are not going to let you down, we promise. We are going to work hard. We are really proud of you guys.”
And Selia, poignantly, says “I can now stop asking for money from boys. Now I am feeling good to myself.”
Subscribe to our newsletter to learn more about the Uplift Travel Foundation and our wonderful in-country partners and projects. Learn more about our areas of impact and upcoming events at UpliftTravel.org.
