By Saliwe Mutetwa-Zakariya | Director
Meet Panashe, a fourteen year old girl from rural Mashambanhaka in Mashonaland Central in Zimbabwe. Panashe was affected by the school closures from March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Being in a rural community, Panashe was unable to access online schooling like her counterparts from the urban government and private schools in the country. Her family's source of livelihood was a garden, where her mother worked tirelessly to grow vegetables and tomatoes to sell in the nearby Bindura town. When COVID-19 happened, the government imposed travel restrictions which limited the access to the traditional mass markets and that meant less income for Panashe's family. Panashe's father was employed in Harare and was forced to move back to the rural home because industry was closed. The nine months from March to December were really desperate for Panashe's family.
Panashe started her period at twelve and because of cultural taboos, she is not free to discuss feminine issues with her mother. Culturally, her aunt is supposed to be her go-to person but the aunts live in other parts of the country. She is not able to ask for money for sanitary pads even. Sometimes when her mother has a few extra dollars, she gives Panashe pocket money. These are the times when she is able to purchase her own sanitary pads but this rarely happens. Panashe would receive pads from the female teachers at school, especially if her period started when she was at school. Sometimes they get organisations like Talia, coming for menstrual health and hygiene outreaches but with the schools closed for more than six months - Panashe struggled to manage her monthly flow. Panashe was not sure she would continue with school - her whole world was crumbling around her.
In response to the COVID-19 country-wide lockdown and school closures, Talia resorted to reaching out to vulnerable adolescent girls in the communities. Driven by the understanding that periods do not pause for pandemics, Talia could not wait for schools to re-open as they were closed indefinitely. The community outreach programs allowed Talia to reach out to more girls, both in-school and out-of-school.
In the period October to December 2020, Talia held three outreach programs at Mashambanhaka, Hopely Farm and Epworth. Through the support from partners and friends, 125 girls, like Panashe, received menstrual health and hygiene education, basic hygiene products and the much needed sanitary pads. Thank you for supporting this drive, together we can end period poverty and allow adolescent girls to live healthy and productive lives.
By Saliwe Mutetwa-Zakariya | Director
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