ENAF and Malaysian High Commission Unveil 18th Mobile Science Lab at Kibera Primary School on Menstrual Hygiene Day

To mark global Menstrual Hygiene Day under the theme “Together for a period friendly world,” Echo Network Africa Foundation (ENAF), through the generous giving of the Malaysian High Commission, officially handed over its 18th Mobile Science Laboratory countrywide at Kibera Primary School.

The deployment expands ENAF’s national educational footprint across 18 under-resourced schools in 14 counties, with Nairobi proudly joining the initiative. To ensure equity, beneficiary schools span regions from Murang’a and Kilifi to Marsabit and Busia, ensuring quality STEM access is never limited by geography or economic status.

Speaking at the launch, ENAF President & CEO Dr. Jennifer Riria highlighted the link between infrastructure and dignity under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC). “Access to practical science infrastructure through these mobile laboratories is absolutely essential to ignite innovation,” Dr. Riria stated. “However, institutional investments in STEM must be protected by investments in human dignity. A girl cannot utilize a state of the art laboratory if period poverty or social stigma forces her to stay at home.”

Through the Girls Excel Initiative, ENAF pairs STEM access with dignity support. In the current intervention quarter alone, ENAF has distributed 7,678 dignity kits containing sanitary towels to 3,855 girls, directly combating school absenteeism.

This milestone represents the second mobile lab delivered in partnership with the Malaysian High Commission, following their sponsorship of a lab for the Ngala School for the Deaf in Nakuru County. Emphasizing the power of collective philanthropy, Dr. Riria invited corporate partners and policymakers to co-invest in digital connectivity and mentorship networks to sustain learners’ scientific curiosity into lifelong careers.