SANITARY TOWELS FOR GIRLS IN RURAL SCHOOLS

Joy for Children Uganda participated in the hike for a girl child in Eastern Uganda. The event took place on 9^th to 10^th July 2022. This is an annual event that is also meant to promote domestic tourism.

The purpose of this year’s hike was to break stigma around menstruation and ending period poverty among young girls. A number of girls have dropped out of school due to being mocked after staining their uniforms.

Menstruation health also has a huge impact on a girls education as girls often forced to skip classes when they are on their period. Plan international research in Uganda has found out that about half of the adolescent girls do not go to school when they are menstruating –missing out up to 24 days of school a year. This can lead to dropping out of school and this puts the girls to a risk of child marriage and getting pregnant at a young age which comes with heightened health risks. Not receiving education and being forced into early marriage also inevitably usually leads to reduced employment and income generation, a terrible consequence which only serves to hold back women’s life chances.

According to UNICEF, globally more than one in three schools (37%) do not have clean, single sex toilets (37%) . one in five (19%) have no usable toilets at all.

At least 500 million girls and women –that’s one in four of the world’s female population of reproductive age, do not have what they need to manage their period whether sanitary pads or access to a clean toilet.

Menstruation is a topic that people are usually uncomfortable talking about and is typically a topic that is only discussed behind closed doors. This is because cultures all over the world have developed detrimental concepts and beliefs about menstruation.

Because of the taboos surrounding menstruation in many parts of the world, there is a significant lack of health education resources available to people about the menstrual cycle. It is this lack of knowledge that fuels myths which ostracize and humiliate women during their monthly cycles.

The stigma surrounding menstruation both stems from and worsens gender inequality. It comes from a perception of girls as less worthy – both in society and within families – and by exposing them to discrimination and unfair treatment, affects their health and wellbeing.

“I remember my first period I had no information, I didn’t know what to do, in wished someone could talk to me and show me how to put on a pad, I was scared that blood was going to get through my dress at school, says Darren( Not real name). Daren also shared to the hikers she used to struggle to smuggle pads in bags into school washrooms like as if it was a crime to menstruate. This inspired her to take part in the hike to break stigma around menstruation.

Raising Teenagers Uganda organized the 2022 hike for a girl child with a theme of breaking menstrual stigma to combat the issues surrounding menstruation by providing free menstrual health education to young people and community members in Buyende district, as well as enabling access to period products, and sparking conversations around periods to fight the stigma.

The activity was a success that they donated sanitary pads 500 girls in Buyende district. 

The girls were excited and showed their appreciation through the songs, dances and poems they presented to the hikers.

In Uganda, girls have a low track record of completing their maximum education level, one of the reasons being menstrual hygiene management. Studies show that only 22 percent of Ugandan girls are enrolled in secondary school, dissimilar to the 91 percent enrolled in in primary school.

According to World Vision International (WVI), in Uganda, insufficient Menstrual Hygiene Management in schools contributes to a drop out of up to 10 percent of girls at the primary level. The SNV/IRC study report (2012) on Menstrual Management in Uganda also shared the relationship between menstruation and absenteeism in schools by girls noting that 60 percent of the girl-pupils absented themselves from schools during their menstruation. The report indicated that on average, there are 220 learning days in a year and missing 24 days in a year translates into 11 percent of the time a girl pupil will miss learning due to menstrual periods.

There is limited availability of feminine hygiene products like disposable pads, tampons and other products among school-going girls. Even then, these products are usually too expensive for most Ugandan families, especially from rural areas, to afford. Desperate to stop the monthly flow, girls most often resort to using pieces of cloth, shreds of foam mattresses, toilet paper, newspapers, banana plant fibers and even leaves. Not only are these options ineffective and uncomfortable, but are also extremely unhygienic, putting girls at risk for diseases.

According to a report from Ministry of Education and Sports (2020), out of the 79% women and girls that experience menstrual pain, only 28% have access to pain killers. Very few schools provide soap and basins to the girls and female teachers. Thirty (30) out of the 152 girls reached reported to have lacked soap during their menstrual periods.

The report further indicates that over 50% of the 250 women and girls are either stressed, worried, scared or isolated during menstruation, not many of them receive any form of psycho-socio support. Only 15% of the girls of the 152 girls receive this kind of support from either mothers, aunties, peers, health worker or older sisters.

It is the duty of every citizen in every community to ensure the safety of all children especially the girl child. There are existing government policies in place to ensure safety and education of girls.

The Environmental Health Policy (2005); emphasizes interventions that respond to the differing needs of men, women and children, while recognizing that women are the main users of water and sanitation facilities”. It further recognizes that sanitation is essential for improving “women’s dignity.

Universal Primary Education Policy (UPE) 1997; aims to provide the facilities and resources to enable every child to enter and remain in school until the primary cycle of education is complete.

Our objectives as Joy for Children-Uganda include increased enrolment, retention and achieved learning outcomes of children in schools, and psycho socio support for children. We currently running a project, promoting the education and retention of the girl child in school through attending to their menstrual hygiene management and we have been able to help girls in rural schools by providing them with sanitary materials and soap. In addition, we provide psycho socio support to girls that suffer with challenges of pain and shame and encourage them to stay in school.

We thank all the donors that have contributed to this cause for your generosity and continue to ask for more support to further our goal of ensuring good menstrual hygiene management, mental health and retention of girls in school.