•Only 50 per cent of girls say that they openly discuss menstruation at home.
•Some even engage in sex to afford sanitary towels.
Image: AWOCHE/EVERLINE BOWA
In the slums of Kibera, Akisa, 18, is quite engaged in sowing a doormat in one of the organisations in the area.
The teen mum started her periods at 16 and used pieces of clothes for one year since she lacked sanitary pads.
“My family couldn't afford the pads because we were poor. I had two pieces of clothes and at times they could soak up and stain my clothes and I would end up missing classes,” she says.
“I was ashamed due to the stigma associated with periods.”
Akisa says right now, life has changed and she is no longer afraid of staining her clothes, thanks to Agape Woman and Child Empowerment Foundation (AWOCHE) in Kibera.
AWOCHE, a non-governmental organisation, provides girls with pads.
Everline Bowa, the founder, has taken it upon herself to ensure she gives girls free sanitary towels to at least keep them in school.
The foundation trains teenage mothers in Kibera on menstrual hygiene, making doormats and reusable sanitary towels.
Bowa says she started the organisation to give girls an opportunity to freely talk about menstruation and menstrual products.
Growing up, Bowa was unable to get information on menstrual hygiene and it affected her self-esteem.
She says they also give out a package with a face towel, soap and innerwear.
“Since the organisation started in 2016, 600 girls have directly benefitted from Awoche,” Bowa says.
She says the programme has been sustainable and girls are now able to stay in school, reducing the number of dropouts and enabling girls to perform well in school.
Menstrual Health in Kenya sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (formative report) shows that 65 per cent of women and girls in Kenya are unable to afford sanitary towels.
It shows only 50 per cent of girls say that they openly discuss menstruation at home.
Some even engage in sex to afford sanitary towels.
A UNESCO report estimates that one in 10 girls in Sub-Saharan Africa misses school during their menstrual cycle. By some estimates, this equals as much as twenty per cent of a given school year.
Image: ABDUL ABDI
Abdul Ali alias Mr Pads stays in Kibera and is the founder of Kirta Touch the Needy.
Ali has been supporting girls by giving them sanitary towels for more than 10 years and ensuring more than 60 young mothers get diapers.
“Since 2010, I have helped over 5,000 girls, while during the Covid-19 pandemic, through a pads drive, we gave out 20,000 sanitary towels. More than 20 organisations supported us and several leaders,” Ali says.
He urged men to be part of menstrual hygiene discussions to address the stigma that comes with periods.
Ali says Kirta has more than 15 volunteers and it's a registered organisation.
“We will soon open a daycare for our young mothers to enable them to complete their studies. This will be free of charge for teen mothers who are students,” he says.
Ali wants the government to change its policies and make sanitary towels free and easily accessible for all girls and women.
Dorina, 12, from Kibera, is a beneficiary of pads donated by Ali.
When she got her first period, she was so scared to tell her parents. She knew they couldn’t afford Sh50 for a pack of pads.
“I used clothes during my periods... I didn't go to school for one week because of the stigma associated with periods. However, things have now changed and boys have also been educated on menstruation.”
Dorina is grateful to Kirta for the support and she calls upon parents to always listen to their children.
Christian Based Camps of Kenya is another such organisation in Kibra.
Founded in 2010 by Eric Simba, CBCK supports girls during their periods.
The organisation runs a farming project and adulthood education, a community library, a pads centre that fights menstrual poverty, and feeding programmes, among others.
Image: LINAH WAMBUI/CBCK
Simba, the director, says he started CBCK to influence change in the slums and to give children in Kibra opportunities like their peers.
So far, 24,000 households have benefited from CBCK while 12,000 families received aid during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The programme has been sustainable. Most people here are from the slums and they are dedicated. We are also accountable and transparent, hence people have come out to give and help us,” Simba says.
He says the pads centre at CBCK has helped girls and women to maintain their menstrual hygiene and avoid engaging in sex for pads.
“The pads centre is something personal. We target school girls because most of them who get their periods for the first time won't go to school because of stigma,” Simba says.
He notes that people prefer disposable pads to reusable ones which have to be cleaned.
He says they have given out 4,000 reusable pads and 12,000 disposable ones from January.
The CBCK director says hygiene is key and there should be designated places where disposable bins can be placed to maintain a clean environment.
Eldar, 15, is a beneficiary of CBCK. She started her periods while in Standard 5 and her sister struggled to get sanitary towels.
But the organisation came to her rescue.
Jane, a community health volunteer in Kibra, says parents should be close to their teenage girls.
She says the issue of menstrual hygiene should be addressed adequately, especially in the slums where water has always been a challenge.
As a Community Health Volunteer, Jane says 10 girls have also benefited from the pads centre and she is happy to have touched a life.
As the world prepares to celebrate Menstrual Hygiene Day on May 28, quality pads and affordability remain a challenge.
Cate, a resident of Kayole, recently experienced skin rashes and itching after she changed the type of sanitary towels she used before.
“This is really uncomfortable especially when the itching starts and you are either at work or going about your daily activities,” Cate says.
Lack of proper management of menstruation is likely to have negative consequences both physically, mentally and socially. Physical consequences include lack of sanitary pads for use, which will, in turn, lead to leakage of menstrual blood
Ruth Kinyua, a Nurse Coordinator at AIDS Healthcare Foundation Kenya (Makueni), says there are substandard sanitary towels that easy leak.
“During removal of pads from the panty, the adhesive sticks on the panty, which leaves some pieces of the pad,” she says.
Kinyua says the Menstrual Hygiene Management Policy by the Ministry of Health (2019 –2030) is a good guide and should be followed up by all stakeholders.
She says dissemination of the policy needs to reach all the stakeholders and follow up done to ensure it is implemented for it to meet the intended purpose.
Kinyua says water is also very key in menstrual hygiene. The government should ensure that all learning institutions in Kenya have access to clean water.
“Lack of proper management of menstruation is likely to have negative consequences both physically, mentally and socially. Physical consequences include lack of sanitary pads for use, which will, in turn, lead to leakage of menstrual blood,” she says.
“This will cause mental consequences such as stress and stigma associated with menses. Girls who mess themselves during their menses are likely to withdraw from their peers which affects them socially.”
Kinyua says people need to come together and embrace the fact that women and girls get their menses every month.
“It’s the high time we involved both boys and girls in this discussion,” she says.
“Stigma is higher when the topic is discussed behind closed doors. Let's work together in ensuring that we discuss menstrual flow in public and involve everyone and let's normalise buying pads and talking about menstruation.”
Former Machakos Health executive Ancent Kituku says the scorecard on menstrual hygiene is still poor, both in rural areas and among the urban poor.
Kituku says access to sanitary pads remains a privilege when it should be a right.
“Menstrual hygiene policies should include menstrual education for girls and boys to demystify the myths, taboos and stigma associated with menstruation,” he says
“There is a need to change policy and ensure these pads are channelled through schools, just like books to ensure each girl has access and for accountability.”
Kituku says school absenteeism is still rampant due to menstruation and policies ought to be put in place to help young girls deal with the perimenstrual syndrome and access care.
This, he says, should include access to medical care for school going children with severe perimenstrual syndrome and those with menstrual complications, like excessive or prolonged menstrual bleeding, should have access to medical care.
“Sanitary pads should be tax-free. Government should ensure there is equity in accessing sanitary pads, just as it has made it a policy to provide free condoms,” Kituku says.