By Catherine Nakayemba | Project Leader
In the Maasai land of Tanzania, women do not have access to sanitary products and they know very little about the types and methods of using them and most of them are unable to afford such products due to high cost. Three generations back, women never used anything during their periods and during this time they would stay at home. The 2nd generation, used cloth and this generation are able to use the pads however they are not accessible and affordable to every girl and woman. Discussing about menstruation is not a common topic, and If a woman or girl experiences their period and she misses out on any activity, its hard for others to understand that its attached to someones body.- Catherine Eclaat(WTC)
Menstruation is considered a taboo and its not talked about around men, Young girls are even ashamed to share with their parents. when the girl doesn't have what to use they resort to using pieces of cloth to stop the blood says Beatrice Laizer
Activity
Training on how to make reusable sanitary pads and conduct sessions on menstruation and menstrual hygiene
Objective of the Activity:
To equip women and girls in maasai land Tanzania with knowledge and skills on how to handle and manage menstruation
During these activities, we were able to Visit two schools and three women groups reaching 1500 people. The activity started with schools, Emboreet secondary school Simanjiro District, Terati Secondary school and then the women groups. The coordinator from Eclaat foundation introduced the Gejja team from uganda to the schools staff and later invited us to introduce ourselves and what we have come to do to the students. We then officially started the sessions about menstruation and menstrual hygiene. we started with the menstrual cycle and this was facilitated by Atuhurra Marjorie who went in details to explain ovulation, fertilization and periods
We continued with the premenstrual symptoms, which was facilitated by Nakayemba Faith Catherine where some of the girls shared about their experiences with menstruation and these are some of the experiences shared. Cramps(abdominal pain) Headache Breast tenderness,Fever and pimples(Acne)
She added more other symptoms that where not shared like back pain, constipation and diarrhoea and mood swings and then shared on how to reduce and stop these menstrual symptoms for the girls to stay in class even during their periods. we continued with how to keep clean during menstruation and this session was facilitated by Ndagire G Raynard where we shared about the different sanitary products to use and how to use them as well how to keep the hygiene during periods. tampons disposable pads Reusable pads.
Lastly we answer the questions from the students and as well distributed the menstrual bracelets to the students
Links:
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