“That” Time of the Month.

So this will definitely not be the first you are hearing about menstruation, whether you are male or female. But how much do you really know about the world, cultural and even religious perceptions of it?

Growth through Learning exists as a secular organization and we shall refrain from directly attacking any specific community.

Here are a few things you probably didn’t know;

From Plan UK’s- lets-talk-about-that-time-of-the-month/

Only 12 percent of girls and women have access to sanitary products around the world. The rest rely on materials such as old, dirty rags, newspaper, leaves, dirt, and other unhygienic materials that often lead to infection and embarrassment due to leaks and odour.

• 28 percent of girls in Uganda do not go to school when they have their period, which accounts for 20 percent of whole school year.
• Girl adolescents stay at home because they don’t have access to hygienic and affordable sanitary pads.
• 18 percent of the girls leave school before graduating, of which 46 percent do not go to school because they don’t have proper water, sanitation and hygiene facilities.

These are true facts and unfortunately, even though we have numerous advertisments and even brands of Sanitary towels some girls do not know about them let alone they can’t even afford them 🙁

There have been amazing Non-profits that have specially come up to combat these challenges and even innovations such as; Trinidas a researcher at Blantyre,Malawi saw the issue and saw that relying on donations wasn’t a solution. She then went on to buy a sewing machine and make her own disposable pads.

Read more; This Woman’s Jazzy Invention means no girl has to miss school because of her Period.

In various religious and social communities women have been shunned from interacting with others, even visiting holy places of worship, or even being seen as menses are viewed as “impure”, “bad omen” or worth cleansing a week after to then allow the women to resume normalcy.

In some cases, where women have been shunned and even prevented from engaging in normal chores or duties it encourages rest.

HOWEVER, menstruating is not a disability or handicap in fact it is some kind of superpower showing a woman’s capability to reproduce and give life.

Recommendations going forward include;

1. Encouraging innovations to sanitary towels and other items such as TinaPads that are locally affordable and re-usable but most importantly hygienic
2. Inclusion of men and boys in knowing about reproductive health and menstruation so that they can support their sisters, classmates and the rest.
3. In cases where women and girls in schools lack seperate bathroom facilities or clean water we encourage governments, parents and other non-profits to make these accesible.

At Growth through Learning, We send the girls to vetted residential schools with appropriate fencing, separate lavatory facilities, and clear policies for protection of female students.

Contact us for any more information .