No More Week of Shame – Nyamboyo Technical School

By Natali Chinchaladze, NTS teen blogger

For those who have been following our blogs, you know that we have discussed menstrual health and menstrual poverty. We’ve found ways to help our students by collaborating with AFRIpads, a Uganda-based business providing reusable sanitary pads and menstrual education to women. As we say on our webpage, our mission is “providing free menstrual products to keep our female students in school and engaged in their daily activities, shifting attitudes that have limited their education and success.”[1]

As a 15-year-old who has also faced the physical transition from girl to woman, I can easily imagine how twice as hard it is for girls in Kenya. But I was shocked to learn that in Kenya, “a study sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation found 65% of women and girls were unable to afford pads, and only 32% of rural schools had a private place such as toilets for girls to change their period pads.”[2]

It is not easy to imagine what kinds of hardships NTS students have faced. It is even harder to imagine that this is considered “normal” because these students, their sisters, their mothers and grandmothers have never known anything else. But in our modern world, crude, improvised materials should never be an alternate way, should never be what we call a “solution”. Menstrual health should be a human right and access to proper menstrual products should not be an issue anymore.

I have learned that this problem is called “period poverty,” and it is deep and wide, going beyond the area of human health. Of course, when girls use pad alternatives such as “paper, old rags, and leaves,” they risk falling ill with reproductive and urinary tract infections, say health experts.

But let’s look at other aspects. Period poverty causes many girls to fall behind boys their age because they miss school while on their period. According to the statistics, ”if a girl misses 4 to 5 days each month, in the end, 20% of the academic year is skipped, just because of menstruation.”[1] It doesn’t take a genius to recognize that this is yet another factor contributing directly to gender inequality.

Then there is the issue of taxes put on period products. For those so poor they cannot afford 3 meals a day, this is inexcusable. Thankfully, Kenya is one of the few countries that has eliminated this tax.

And we can go further by combining the issues of education and menstrual poverty with economics. A lack of education for girls can lead to substantial losses in national wealth. “World Bank figures estimate that wider society and national economies can profit from better menstruation management: with every 1% increase in the proportion of women with secondary education, a country’s annual per capita income grows by 0.3%. Empowered women and dignified work are critical to a better business – a business that is more ethical and more productive. Other than improved finance, impacts in Bangladesh, Kenya, and India include behavior improvements in health and workplace gender equality outcomes, as well as improvements in self-esteem.”[3]

“Poverty, lack of access, and deeply held beliefs often prevent girls from attending school past the age of twelve.”[1] NTS works directly with families to grapple with these root issues. By addressing the economic realities of NTS families, by actively recruiting female students, by counseling families on the benefits of female education, and by providing AFRIpads and support programs, NTS is working to address past trauma and permanently change attitudes toward women and menstruation. At NTS, there is no more “Week of Shame”.

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