About Over the Moon Project

Juliet and Gillian started Over the Moon Project because we have a dream of helping all the girls in Juliet’s village attend school. Unfortunately, girls in rural Uganda are often unable to attend school during “that time of the month” because they lack basic menstrual sanitary supplies. That means they fall behind in school and have no chance of making it to high school or college. We want to eliminate that barrier and you can help by donating today!

Our goal is to improve educational outcomes for girls in Lira, Uganda, by reducing menstrual absenteeism and increasing students’ self-confidence through the delivery of high-quality reusable menstrual sanitary products (pads) in conjunction with sexual health education, gender empowerment workshops, and mentorship. Over the Moon Project is a 501(c)(3) organization.

Why is our work important?

Although Uganda has a constitutional mandate to provide free universal primary and secondary education, Ugandan girls still face many barriers to education and continue to achieve lower educational outcomes than boys. One significant barrier for girls is menstruation, which often results in absences from school—a phenomenon known as menstrual absenteeism. These absences accumulate and cause girls to fall behind, thereby reducing their educational achievement and limiting their chances of completing secondary and post-secondary education. This project aims to alleviate some of the main causes of menstrual absenteeism in Lira—lack of reliable menstrual sanitary supplies, shame, and stigma.

Who do we serve?

Akiya girls posing with their teachers

Over the Moon will serve girls at Akiya Primary School, a rural school located approximately 400 kilometers from Kampala, in Uganda’s northern Lira District. Like many districts in the northern region, the community in Lira District is still struggling to rebuild since the civil war, which resulted in severe disruption in the educational system and lasting educational delays for Ugandan children. Currently, Akiya serves 211 girls, ages 13 to 16, within a radius of approximately five miles.