Close-up photo of a woman's hands clasped in front of her. The woman is wearing a red garment and beaded bracelets.

Great Being a Girl

Ending period poverty in Kenya

A player in a navy football kit traps a ball on an outdoor pitch beside a running track during a practice in Kenya.

The fight against period poverty begins with a simple cup

In Kenya, more than a million girls miss school every year because they don’t have access to the necessary hygiene products. Great Being a Girl was founded to put an end to that—and it all began with a simple menstrual cup. The project was established in 2018 by Kimberly Hickok Smith and her daughter Kimberly Layden, who became aware of the cups while studying at university. Having grown up in Kenya, she saw the massive potential for their use in East Africa.

A woman in a cap and sunglasses smiles as Samburu women in beaded collars gather around her outdoors in Kenya.

Why we love Great Being a Girl

As a business founded and run by a mother-daughter team, Great Being a Girl has a place very close to our hearts. It’s about much more than menstrual cups; it’s a way to give girls and women their freedom back. That could be the freedom to go to school, the freedom to play sports, or just the freedom to feel comfortable when on their periods.

Through the distribution of menstrual cups, education programs, and community engagement, Great Being a Girl is empowering young girls and women.

The Great Being a Girl team has achieved a tremendous amount with limited resources, but there’s so much more we can do to help. With your support, we want to help them end period poverty in Kenya.

Every girl should have the freedom to be themselves. 

How your support makes a difference

  • Icon of a menstrual cup.

    1,500

    Menstrual cups donated

  • Icon of a pencil.

    86

    Schools and communities reached

  • Icon of two women embracing each other.

    2,000

    Girls and women impacted

    • Women in colorful wraps sit in a circle outside as youths watch from a shaded doorway, with hills in rural Kenya.
    Students in a classroom hold pink hygiene items and worksheets while smiling toward the camera.
    Five Samburu girls and women in beaded collars pose in a green field under a clear blue sky in northern Kenya.

    These girls are now their own educators. They are breaking the silence around menstruation in a way we never imagined.

    Kumpa Primary School Teacher

    Girls in navy football kits pose with a goalkeeper on an outdoor pitch beside a running track in Kenya.

    How your donation makes an impact

    For every $5 you donate, Great Being A Girl will provide a menstrual cup to one girl or women.

    The cups are made from BPA-free, medical-grade silicone, which makes them easy to clean and reusable.

    Each cup can last up to 10 years—enough time to see a young girl through the entirety of her education.