On 16 October 2025, Start Walking Foundation commemorated the International Day of the Girl Child at St. Paul's Rongo Secondary School with a day centered on dignity, health, and honest conversation.

The engagement brought together more than 400 girls for a reflective and practical session focused on issues that remain central to the wellbeing, confidence, and long-term empowerment of girls and young women.

At the center of the day were conversations on sexual and reproductive health, self-awareness, and the everyday realities that shape the experience of the girl child.

These were not abstract conversations.

They were practical, necessary, and rooted in the lived realities of the girls in the room.

Practical support alongside conversation

The session created space for open engagement around health, dignity, and the kinds of questions young girls often carry without enough safe room to ask.

Alongside these conversations, Start Walking Foundation distributed sanitary towels to 300 girls as part of the day's commitment to practical support and menstrual dignity.

While conversation matters, dignity also requires access. This was one of the most important reminders of the day: that empowerment must be both reflective and practical.

A coordinated community effort

The engagement was made stronger through the presence and participation of key stakeholders, including representatives from the Ministry of Health, community leaders from Lwala Community Hospital, school leadership, and the Start Walking Foundation team and volunteers.

Their presence mattered. It reinforced an important truth: supporting girls well requires coordinated community responsibility. No single institution carries that work alone.

What stood out most

What stood out most was the openness in the room.

There was attentiveness.
There was honesty.
There was courage in the questions asked.
And there was a visible need for more spaces where girls can be engaged with clarity, dignity, and care.

For us, this is what made the day meaningful.

What this day means to us

Commemorating the International Day of the Girl Child was not only about marking a date on the calendar.

It was about creating space for girls to be seen, heard, supported, and taken seriously.

And that remains one of the clearest responsibilities we carry forward in our work.