Magoha, all our girls want is to have their periods in dignity

Call for more affordable sanitary towels. PHOTO | FOTOSEARCH

Growing up, my siblings and I often scrambled for the previous night’s ugali. We would roast it over a jiko and eat it with tea.

This was not just the best breakfast we could afford, but the main meal of the day. We ate and happily went to school where we learnt the benefits of a balanced diet.

The next morning, fully aware of the balanced diet teachings, we still competed for an even bigger share of the ugali (rukuo in Pokot). This rukuo meant survival. We needed to survive that one day, to live to fight for a balanced meal tomorrow. While a balanced diet breakfast remains elusive in my adult life, I occasionally try to add eggs and a banana to my more hygienic bread.

I survived each day on rukuo, but, more importantly, I went to class with dignity. I knew my hunger pangs won’t betray poverty at home.

All girls want when they have their period is to go through it in dignity. Yes, they may not be aware of germs, reinfection among other sanitation concerns. Of utmost urgency is that each girl requires dignity today to survive and live to buy the sanitary pads tomorrow. If you think I am just obsessed with my rukuo, let me remind you that about two months ago, a 14-year-old girl in Kabiangek Primary School in Konoin, Bomet, committed suicide.

This was allegedly after shaming by a teacher who noticed she had stained her uniform. The girl did not have a chance to survive one day with dignity and live to use the sanitary towels you, as Education Cabinet Secretary, are advocating, yet your ministry cannot prioritise the pads.

AFFORDABLE OPTIONS

Beatrice Chepkirui, the girl’s mother, was quoted saying “she (her daughter) had no pads. When she stained her clothes, she was told to leave the classroom and stand outside”. Perhaps, if she had a sanitary pad, she would be alive today.

Many Kenyans were, therefore, disappointed when you sounded insensitive to the plight of many girls like Chepkirui’s daughter. You dismissed a suggestion to help the ministry to supply reusable sanitary pads. Yet, you admitted that the government could only afford one more school term of supply in the current financial year.

There must be enough data in your office on how many girls drop out of school due to inability to access sanitary pads. You should be asking stakeholders to provide affordable and sustainable options, rather than dismissing those that have been tested over time.

Let us build on your argument that reusable towels that are not properly sterilised are dangerous for the girls. Of course, as a surgeon, you know this better than most of us. May I, however, remind you that you are now wearing the hat of Education minister.

If you are alleging that our girls have not learnt hygiene classes well enough, then it is your responsibility to ensure the curriculum is properly packaged. If your concern is that schools do not have water and soap, then, again, you should ensure these are provided. Each school should have these to support sanitation and disease prevention. The girls are taught how to improve hygiene in menstrual health.

SCHOOL DROPOUT

Let me now appeal to your scientific mind with some statistics. In a study tracking the outcome of using reusable sanitary pads or menstrual underwear among 205 girls in Ethiopia, school attendance rates increased by between 15 and 30 per cent in six months of introducing the product.

The cost of a girl being away from school due to lack of sanitary pads is far too high compared to funding sustainable options. It is not just about disregard to the law and policies, it also means increased risk of teenage pregnancy, school dropout, risk of unemployment and many more.

You have these three reasons why you need to give a chance to good quality and presentable sanitary pads in schools:

• Before your ministry can afford the more sanitary pads, you will accord these girls dignity. It will prevent suicide and give the girls a chance to live and wear the sterile pad.
• There is proof it works. Cleanliness is a small price to pay and that too is your job — invest in health education and in water tanks in schools. A pad can be reused for between six and 24 months.
• You will create jobs for Kenya. Simply demand high quality sanitary pad products at best prices.

Mr Munyuwiny is a public health specialist and executive director of African Institute for Children Studies in Kenya (www.institutechildstudies.org)