Flying Kites, a nonprofit network of schools in rural Kenya, would normally fall well outside RWN Foundation’s funding priorities. (We do fund education initiatives, but only in Oregon.) However, they articulated a strong case for why we should consider their request under our health and health equity priority: they were requesting capital funds to build new latrines and kitchens at their seven schools so that children had safe and clean places to go to the bathroom and wash their hands (a particular concern in the pandemic), girls had places to change menstrual gear that did not feel stigmatizing/disincentivize them from coming to school, and all schools had kitchens with enough capacity to provide students with meals, upon which they rely for their health, growth, and academic success. We were happy to offer a grant to support this grassroots renovation: our grant will replace latrines in seven school facilities.
