Today, Francis, Twalibu, and myself, Don, returned to Manushi Secondary School — the very first school in our Hedhi Huru project.

It has now been approximately 90 days since our initial visit, where 42 girls received reusable sanitary pads as part of our mission to support dignity, education, and opportunity for young women in Tanzania.

This visit was particularly exciting because we were joined by representatives from a reputable internet service provider who had heard about the Hedhi Huru project and wanted to learn more about the impact being made at the school. They also brought along their technical team to assess the school’s current digital infrastructure and evaluate the possibility of bringing internet connectivity to the campus.

During our conversations with the headmaster, teachers, and the school’s IT assistant, we learned more about the challenges the school currently faces regarding digital access.

Although the school recently received a computer lab with 22 computers, the lack of internet connectivity severely limits what students and teachers can do with these resources. At the moment, the computers are primarily being used for offline textbooks and basic materials because there is no active internet connection at the school.

Teachers currently rely on their personal mobile data bundles to access online resources, while students have no internet access at all.

The school’s IT assistant also shared that he personally spends around 50,000 Tanzanian shillings per month on mobile data in order to hotspot internet access for essential tasks.

The visit opened up important discussions around the role internet access could play in expanding educational opportunities for students and teachers alike. We are now waiting to hear back from the internet service provider regarding the technical feasibility and possible ways we can collaborate together moving forward.

In the next two weeks, our team will return to Manushi Secondary School to conduct a full monitoring and evaluation survey with the 42 students who received the reusable pads. This follow-up will help us better understand:

* School attendance improvements

* Student experiences and feedback

* Product quality and usability

* Social and cultural impact within the school community

Even before the formal evaluation, the verbal feedback from the headmaster was incredibly encouraging. He shared that the project has already made a profound positive change to the culture at the school.

We are deeply grateful to be part of this journey and excited about what’s ahead — not only in supporting girls through Hedhi Huru, but also potentially helping bridge the digital divide within schools like Manushi.

Stay tuned for more updates as the project continues to grow.