By Lanre Oloyede
As part of activities to mark 2019 world menstrual hygiene day, a non-governmental organization, Empower Her 4 Africa Initiative (Empower Her for Sustainable development Initiative in Africa)
has sensitized students of secondary schools in the nation’s capital on the need to maintain good and proper menstrual hygiene.
The NGO which was established with the objective of empowering the girl-child and vulnerable women through education and vocational training also donated sanitary materials such as pads to the students.
The group educated the students on the average age for a girl to experience her first menstrual cycle, the number of days in the cycle, the signs and symptoms of menstruation, and how to handle the pain and other challenges that come with menstruation.
According to the Executive Director of the NGO, Charlene Makai, the essence of the sensitization was to create awareness on menstrual hygiene in order to deconstruct the myth and misconception about menstruation.
Charlene stated that poor menstrual hygiene undermines the educational opportunities of girls and women by affecting their health and social status, thereby preventing them from reaching their full potentials.
She called on policy makers in the country to give priority attention to issues of menstrual Hygiene of school girls at all levels of governance by providing them with sanitary towels.
While speaking with Nigerian Pilot at Blessed Children Compressive International School Waru, one of the two secondary schools visited, Charlene said, “Girls are being discriminated against when they are menstruating, they are treated like dirt hence they tend to stay at home during menstruation which affects their education.
“This is why we taught them on how to take care of themselves during menstruation in order not to be discriminated against.”
Continuing, she added that, “We want the girls to know that it is safe to menstruate. We want to disabuse the minds of the people on the misconception that when a girl is menstruating, she cannot go to school, she cannot handle some things, and she cannot be in some places or be saddled with some responsibilities.
“We are collaborating with other organizations outside Nigeria to make sure we have pad banks in schools so that when the girls are menstruating they can get their pads and continue going to school as normal.”
Some of the students who participated in the sensitization lauded the organizers for providing them with such important opportunity to learn about this issue that is so personal to them.
One of the students, Naomi Tanko said, “I have learnt a lot about the correct use of the pad, how to make sure our hands are clean when we are using the pad and how to dispose of it properly.”
Another student, Maria Peter said, “I learnt how to take care of my genital when menstruating so that we can prevent bacterial infections. I learnt that we should not stop coming to school when we are menstruating. I learnt that the pain we experience during menstruation are normal, and we should not be afraid and that we can take little pain killer for it.”
Menstrual Hygiene Day is marked every May 28 to raise awareness and combat misconception associated with menstrual hygiene with the goal of enabling women and girls to achieve their full potential.
All around the world, many women including girls lack access to menstrual hygiene products or sanitation facilities, either due to limited availability or excessive cost.
In the same vein, myths and stigmas surrounding menstruation cause some women and girls to miss school or work or go into isolation.
It is for this reason that NGO like Empower Her 4 Africa Initiative is engaging in an open dialogue and education at home and in school to foster engagement with this often unspoken issue.
The theme of 2019 Menstrual Hygiene Day, “It’s Time for Action”, not only emphasized the urgency of this public health issue, but also highlight the transformative power of improved menstrual hygiene to empower the world’s women and girls and unlock their economic and educational opportunities.
Highpoints of the sensitization exercise included distribution of sanitary pads to the female students and demonstration of the use of the pads by the trainers and some of the students.
