Menstrual Hygiene Day: Adolescent Girls need Menstrual Health Information in Schools

PC: Google

As the world marks Menstrual Hygiene Day on the theme “Together for a Period Friendly World”, I asked, why can’t we have a Pad Shop and Menstrual Health Information and Services in schools to protect the dignity of our girls.
The unexpected visitor (Period), as my girls and I love to call it, can appear anytime, whether you are prepared or not. This is our nature and it should not stop us from going to school. 

We have stationeries in school and students don’t have to go outside to buy all they need for their studies. Imagine a pad shop within our school environment where students can have access to Pads while menstruating and also have access to Menstrual health information and services they need to manage menstruation with dignity.

According to the WHO/UNICEF Report, Globally, a significant number of school-going children lack access to menstrual health information and adequate facilities. Only about 2 out of 5 schools (39%) worldwide provide menstrual health education, and less than 1 in 3 (31%) have bins for menstrual waste in girls' toilets. This access gap is even more pronounced in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and sub-Saharan Africa.

The first time I saw blood dripping out of a School girl was when I was a newly transferred grade 4 pupil at Saint Joseph’s Primary School in Basse, Upper River Region of the Gambia. A Female Pupil named Batully, who is years older than most of us in the classroom happens to be taken unawares by her menstrual cycle and starts bleeding in class. When she realised it, the back of her uniform was already soaked with blood. Ashamed of getting up or explaining to our male teacher, Mr Rogers, she decided to endure the menstrual cramps and lay her head on the table, contemplating what to do.

Mr. Rogers, being the strict teacher, asked her to stop sleeping and stand up. This was where the chaos started. Batully is sitting firmly on her chair, refusing to stand up. When asked why she refused to stand up, she remained quiet and we all thought due to her age, she was trying to defy the teacher’s order. We were children at the time and some of us have never heard of periods or menstruation. I was sitting on a desk closer to Batully’s and curiosity got the better part of me when I saw her hold on to the desk she was sitting on like her life depended on it.

Mr. Rogers became furious and started beating her with a horse pipe but Batully remained silent and firm on her decision. It was when a female teacher joined the class amid the chaos that Mr Rogers understood why Batully refused to stand up. She finally stood up after she was given a piece of cloth to wrap around her and guided to leave the class to take care of herself. The desk was soaked with blood, and it was scary for all of us who never understood this was part of our nature, and, like Batully, we would also experience it at some point in our lives.

At her age, taken unawares, filled with the shame of something that is part of her life as a girl, is something no girl should experience. Batully’s situation would have been different if she had the information to prepare herself for that day. It would have been different if we had a pad shop that also doubles as a safe space within the school environment for girls like Batully to run to in times of need. 

As a grown woman, every time the subject of Menstrual hygiene comes up, this incident that happened when I was a Pupil kept playing in my mind. Batully’s situation has happened to many of us due to the surprise arrival of our monthly visitor when we were not prepared for it.

Many years after Batully’s incident, it was my turn to bleed. Mine came when I was in Grade 7 in 2004. It was one cosy and warm morning when I woke up very early, not because I wanted to but because of the discomfort I was going through in my abdomen. It was the worst excruciating abdominal pain I ever experienced at that age. It was not the pain that got me rushing out of bed and bolting to my mother's room, but my bloody-soaked underwear that sent me into a panic mode. As a Teenager, I was carefree and outspoken so I said things as they are. I showed my soaked pants to her, and she just dismissed me with a few words: “You are now a woman. There are worn-out wrappers in the wardrobe; tear it and use it to contain the blood.” 

At the time, technology was not advanced and you either get this information through someone or you don’t get it at all. I didn’t ask my mother for more information, knowing how our mothers shy away from discussing such issues or even when they do, they leave us with more questions than answers. I did as I was told. I got a worn-out wrapper, tore it, tied a rope around my waist wrapped the fabric around it like a pad and put on my underwear.

I have become so good at it over time until I was able to learn about the existence of sanitary pads and was able to buy them for myself. The problem I had was not about using the worn-out fabrics but the fact that I was not allowed to spread them outside after washing them. I was told this is part of our shame and it should be hidden even when washed. I remember defying that rule and by the time my mother realised that I had spread my traditional menstrual fabric pad outside, she would go on a frenzy.

We spent more time at school than at home. If we can have a Pad Shop in Schools that will also double as a safe space for us to have information about our Reproductive Health Rights as adolescent girls, it will greatly help us to prepare for the arrival of our menses. We will go to school and preserve our dignity.

The Pad Shop and Safe space is not enough but we need to train Female Teachers who are ready and willing to guide our girls through this journey. We also need to equip our toilets with water and waste bins that can be used by our girls to manage menstruation and protect their dignity while in school.

We called on the Government of the Gambia through the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare to make sure that our girls have access to menstrual health information and services within the school. To make sure that our Schools have access to water and good toilets that our girls can use to manage menstruation with dignity.

Girls cannot realise their full potential without proper Menstrual Hygiene Care. We wish you all a Happy World Menstrual Hygiene Day. Let’s work together for a period Friendly World.

Author: Halimatou Ceesay