By Anne Mugisa and Cathy Mwesigwa
The day Mbabazi spotted her first menstrual period at Kitarasa Primary School in Kabarole, was the last she attended school.
The humiliation from the boys who could not stop laughing at the incident was too much. In fact, she had not realised that her periods had started until the boys started giggling and then openly laughed when she stood up to leave the classroom at lunch time.
An older girl told her she had stained her dress. She was in Primary Six then. Now she is an uneducated mother of four children whose education their two fathers are unbothered about.
That menstrual blood that destroyed Mbabazi’s future and is threatening that of her children, has not affected only her. Many other girls are dropping out of school for fear of embarrassing themselves during to the periods. First, the girls are not educated about their bodies and menstruation owing to the African culture of silence on sexuality and sanitary towels are expensive.
As a result, according to the Ministry of Education and Sports, girls are resorting to using leaves, paper, rags and other undignified articles which force them to keep away from other people for the days they are menstruating
During this year’s activities to mark the International Women’s Day, different organisations have come up to shine a spotlight on menstruation probably to ensure that it features prominently on the list of issues that the country needs to address urgently.
They reason that it will save the girl child’s education and help the women realise their potential without impediment from their natural biological cycle
School drop out rates
According to one of the organisations, AFRIpads, one out of 10 girls in Uganda are dropping out of school because of lack of protective basics like sanitary pads and related facilities.
UNESCO statistics show that between 1999 and 2007 Uganda’s girl enrolment in school stood at 49.9% and the boys at 50.1%. UNESCO’s Global Monitoring report of 2010, said that by secondary education boys enrollment was higher with 83 girls enrolling for every 100 boys.
At this level, the girls’ completion rate fell further with only 31% girls completing senior four. The reasons cited include menstruation.
One of AFRIpad’s officials, Sophia Klumpp, says that apart from those that drop out, many of the girls who remain in school lose up to 20% of their school time to menstruation which adversely affects their performance and ability to realise their potential for their own and the country’s development.
They lose at least five days each month which translates to over 60 days lost from the education days.
A proposal to give girls free sanitary towels was rejected in 2006 by the Ministry of Education whose officials argued that it would be too expensive for it.
Two years ago, however, a social enterprise called AFRIpads came up with an innovation to manufacture washable sanitary pads with the hope that the needy girls can use the same pack for a year.
If they catch on, the impact of the re-usable pads may extend far beyond the school girls to cater for those other women who may not be able to afford pads.
Currently a packet of pads from the shops costs a minimum of sh1,800 and can go up much higher. Depending on ones flow and one’s choice of pads, the cost could be over 60,000 a year.
This could be multiplied by the number of women in the household to gauge the cost of sanitary towels alone to a household, which resources could be channeled to other needs with the new innovation. AFRIpads sanitary towels on the other hand are affordable at sh11,000 per pack of five and 14, 000 per pack of eight reusable towels.
Women Deliver recognition
Last year, Women Deliver, a global advocacy organization, recognised Afripads among the 50 most inspiring ideas and solutions that are delivering for girls and women all over the world.
Every year, in celebration of International Women’s Day, the organisation highlights initiatives that improve the wellbeing of girls and women.
Women Deliver compiles and puts out initiatives to their online public all over the world for voting.
“We were honored to be recognized on International Women’s Day 2012 by Women Deliver because we believe firmly in the transformative power of innovation,” Sopihia Klumpp, the director of AFRIpads says.
According to Klumpp, receiving the award not only helped raise their small organisation’s profile, but also helped focus attention on a subject that is generally considered a “women’s issue” in a negative sense.
“Menstruation is one of the most common, shared female experiences and yet it in countries all over the world it is associated with cultural taboos and a stigma of shame and uncleanliness.
We’re committed to lifting this shroud and believe that our innovative product can play an important role in empowering women in their daily lives, both in Uganda and beyond,” she said.
In only threeyears, the washable pad has empowered over 125,000 women and girls in East Africa to experience their monthly period with comfort and dignity.
Sanitary pads are not the only issue related to schoolgirls menstrual problems. The entire sanitation range, including latrines, water and soap while at school, needs to be addressed.
According to Dr. Jotham Musinguzi, Director of PPD Africa, Uganda has not been paying adequate attention to this issue as well as other reproductive health issues. As a result, he says, the country is lagging behind in as far as maternal health is concerned though it is doing well as far as the related issue of child health is concerned.
He explains that the impressive immunisation interventions by government have reduced child mortality rates but the issues of maternal health are relegated. He notes that girls are not staying in school as long as necessary; women are not adequately accessing health services, qualified health workers, water and sanitation among other services.
He says that last year Women Deliver held an African regional conference in Uganda where issues of maternal health which includes the health of the girl child were discussed.
He said the meeting was beneficial to Uganda and the African continent’s issues were thrashed out and recommendations made for the Millennium Development Goals Review in 2015.
He said that clear recommendations were also made for the Ugandan Government on the gaps that need urgent attention.
In 2012 at the London Summit on Family Planning which brought together heads of governments, donors and philanthropists, President Yoweri Museveni committed to an increment in funding for reproductive health supplies from $3.3m per year to $5m per year for the next five years. The president also promised to mobilise an additional $5m from external partners.
Government resources often go to solving infrastructural challenges. Local innovations, on the other hand, tend to contribute solving women’s daily challenges. To contribute to improving access to sanitary pads, the International Women’s Day Festival Uganda will hold celebrations for women and by women on Women’s Day. All the proceeds will go to AFRipads.
“We believe that women and girls are the cornerstone to achieving progressive, sustainable development in any nation,” says Sophie Klumpp, the founder. She believes their work contributes to achieving this. She says they are committed to working with Ugandans to ensure women continue to advance.
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To commemorate International Women’s Day, Women Deliver highlights progress made for girls and women by celebrating innovations that improve women’s lives. Of the 25 social enterprises up for voting this year, three are in Uganda.
Kangu is a crowdfunding website which profiles pregnant women. With a contribution of $10 and more, a donors can identify and sponsor a specific pregnant mother and her baby to receive a clean and safe birth with a skilled attendant.
Woman To Woman Foundation is another organisation that is helping to improve access to sanitary pads among schoolgirls by providing resusable pads. The organisation also distributes ‘promise bracelets’ to increase their awareness on their reproductive health.
Spark MicroGrants is an initiative that provides small grants to low income rural communities to support the management of their local projects like building projects of schools or clinics. The organisation supports members’ weekly planning and management meetings and encourages women leadership.
To vote for any of these organisations, you go online to www.womendeliver.org. Deadline is March 6, 2013. Should any of there organisations emerge among the top 10, they will win a full scholarship to attend the Women Deliver conference in Malaysia in May.
The conference is expected to convene more than 5,000 experts, global leaders and champions for women and girls from more than 160 countries.
Among the major speakers expected are Melinda Gates, co-chair of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director, UN Women, Seth Berkley, CEO, GAVI Alliance, Barbara Bush, CEO and Co-Founder, Global Health Corps and many others from the UN and global women and health organisations.