Temi's Smile Project

Status: Ongoing

Restoring Dignity. Promoting Health. Empowering Girls.

The Temi's Smile Project is a flagship initiative of Elohim Development Foundation (EDF) dedicated to advancing menstrual health and hygiene (MHH), improving access to sexual and reproductive health education, and promoting the dignity, confidence, and wellbeing of adolescent girls and young women.

Established through the generous support of an anonymous donor, the project was created to address one of the most overlooked barriers to girls' education and wellbeing—period poverty. Recognizing that many girls miss school, experience stigma, or lack access to basic menstrual hygiene products, the project provides practical support while creating safe spaces for education, dialogue, and empowerment.

Since its inception, Temi's Smile Project has directly reached over 1,478 girls and women across Benue and Nasarawa States through menstrual hygiene interventions, school outreach programmes, community education, and humanitarian responses.

Our Approach

EDF adopts a holistic approach that combines menstrual health education, access to hygiene products, psychosocial support, safeguarding, and life skills development to ensure that girls can manage menstruation safely, confidently, and with dignity.

Menstrual Hygiene Management

The project provides menstrual hygiene education alongside the distribution of sanitary pads and hygiene supplies to adolescent girls and vulnerable women. Through practical demonstrations and awareness sessions, participants learn about menstrual health, proper hygiene practices, and strategies for managing menstruation safely and confidently.

By improving access to menstrual products and accurate information, the project helps reduce absenteeism from school, combats stigma, and promotes healthier menstrual practices.

Sexual and Reproductive Health Education

Temi's Smile goes beyond the distribution of sanitary materials by providing age-appropriate education on sexual and reproductive health, puberty, body autonomy, personal hygiene, consent, and healthy decision-making.

Interactive sessions encourage girls to ask questions freely in a safe and supportive environment, helping them make informed choices while challenging harmful myths and misconceptions surrounding menstruation and adolescent health.

Dignity and Life Skills

The project equips girls with practical life skills that build confidence, resilience, and self-esteem. Discussions focus on personal development, leadership, self-worth, goal setting, peer pressure, and safeguarding, empowering participants to make positive life choices and become advocates for their own wellbeing.

Community Awareness and Advocacy

EDF works with schools, parents, community leaders, teachers, healthcare providers, and local organizations to promote positive attitudes toward menstrual health and to reduce the stigma associated with menstruation.

Through advocacy campaigns, public awareness activities, and community engagement, the project encourages supportive environments where menstruation is recognized as a normal biological process rather than a source of shame or discrimination.

Humanitarian Response

Recognizing that displaced girls and women often face heightened barriers to menstrual hygiene, Temi's Smile has extended support to internally displaced persons (IDPs) through the distribution of menstrual hygiene kits and targeted awareness sessions in displacement settings.

These interventions ensure that vulnerable women and girls maintain dignity, health, and access to essential menstrual hygiene resources during emergencies and humanitarian crises.

Partnerships

The success of Temi's Smile Project has been strengthened through collaboration with schools, healthcare providers, government institutions, and community-based organizations.

EDF has also partnered with organizations including Maria Touch of Care Foundation and Blooming Ivy Foundation to commemorate Menstrual Hygiene Day 2026, expanding community outreach and increasing awareness of menstrual health and dignity.

Project Reach

Temi's Smile Project has reached beneficiaries across schools, communities, and humanitarian settings in Benue and Nasarawa States, including:

• Secondary schools through the FrankTalk School Outreach Programme

• Community-based menstrual hygiene sessions

• Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps

• Special commemorations of Menstrual Hygiene Day

• School and community partnerships promoting adolescent health

Key Achievements

Since its launch, the project has:

• Reached over 1,600 adolescent girls and women with menstrual hygiene support and education.

• Distributed sanitary pads and menstrual hygiene materials to vulnerable girls and women.

• Delivered comprehensive menstrual health and sexual and reproductive health education in schools and communities.

• Improved awareness of menstrual hygiene management among adolescents.

• Reduced stigma surrounding menstruation through advocacy and community engagement.

• Supported internally displaced girls and women with menstrual hygiene interventions in humanitarian settings.

• Strengthened partnerships with schools, civil society organizations, and community stakeholders to promote menstrual dignity and adolescent wellbeing.

Lasting Impact

Temi's Smile Project continues to transform lives by ensuring that menstruation is never a barrier to education, confidence, health, or opportunity. By combining menstrual health education, access to essential hygiene products, life skills development, and community advocacy, the project is empowering girls to remain in school, make informed decisions about their health, and thrive with dignity.

At EDF, we believe that every girl deserves to manage her period safely, confidently, and without fear or stigma. Through Temi's Smile, we are creating communities where menstrual health is understood, supported, and recognized as a fundamental component of gender equality, education, and sustainable development.