Period Poverty: Investing in Period hub, product and Solving girls’ Education

My menstrual experience in school, was such that there were no menstrual products, management rooms and other related menstrual related absorbents, catapulted by lack of menstrual health hygiene management information and commitment by teachers who would otherwise offer support when you are in your first menstrual experience. As a first timer, during break time as we were taking tea, behind me there was a group of not more than five students standing behind me, I felt something warm ooze from my private part, I realized I had wet my skirt from behind not knowing that it was already leaking through. Alerted by the voices and screams of girls, I was already soiled with menstrual blood, dropped off my cup of tea and ran to the dormitory. In the dormitory, there was no change room, sanitary absorbents and facility services. This was exacerbated further by not having had prior information on menstrual hygiene management, I was left with no solution than to stay in the dormitory for the next five days.
My menstrual experience and experience of other girls I met in line of duty as a community worker, influenced me to change the mindset of a local community on menstrual hygiene management, opening conversations on menstruation and engaging families on real discourse. During my time and even today, menstruation is considered a social-cultural taboo attached to myths and misconceptions and no open conversation can be held with senior members of the family leave alone school teachers and mentors. Menstrual hygiene management challenge impacts on girls, menstrual related school attendance and academic performance, with girls forced to abstain from school for an average of 4-8 days a month, 48-84 days annually.
My wish therefore, is to enable in school girls access to menstrual hygiene management and sanitation change rooms in 4 schools of Muheza District Council Tanga Tanzania, access 5,000 in school girls to low cost affordable reusable sanitary absorbents and improve their school attendance and academic performance.