Her family moved to Korogocho, one of the poorest slums in Nairobi, Kenya, four years ago, when the father of her children died. Not long after, she was forced to sell her sewing machine, her only source of income, so she could get treatment for an infection in her leg.
"Life became extremely difficult," Shikuku tells CNN while sitting outside her sheet-metal home alongside her children. "Today, I have nothing. There is a material I was given to sew, but I don't have a machine to do so."
On a good day, Shikuku can make around $1 (150 Kenyan shillings) washing clothes and cleaning houses, but the cheapest pads available in Korogocho cost 33 cents (50 Kenyan shillings).
That means her 14-year-old daughter, Mercy, often must go without. Last month, Mercy was sent home from school after her period caught her by surprise. And she regularly stays home if she doesn't have pads, to avoid embarrassment.
"She has heavy menses. During her periods, it stains her clothes," Shikuku explains.
This is what period poverty looks like, and it's a shared experience for millions across Kenya.
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