Unpopular culture and the stigmatisation of women’s menstrual cycle have been blamed for denying women access to a safe menstrual environment.
Stakeholders during the marking of World Menstrual Day at Tigityo Girls Secondary School in Nandi County said failure of the community to openly discuss menstrual situations involving girls and women was frustrating efforts to access a clean and safe menstrual environment.
The Founder and Chief Executive Officer ‘Fast Truck Mentors’ Valentine Simei said the entire Nandi community should openly and freely talk about women’s menstrual cycle which would lead to finding ways of ensuring all girls and women access safe periods.
Simei believes that a safe and clean menstrual cycle for women and girls would be achieved if the community abandoned stigmatising women and girls on periods.
She regretted that some diseases facing women today were associated with failure to access safe menstrual periods, a situation she said could be corrected if the community and the all stakeholders were involved.
“We are asking the government and other stakeholders to continue supporting girls in school and especially those in day schools to access sanitary pads for them to access friendly periods,” she added.
According to Simei, over 400 girls in Tigityo Girls School benefitted from the free sanitary pads courtesy of ‘Fast Truck Mentors’ with support from other organisations and the well-wishers.
Fauzia Butit Principal Tigityo Girls Secondary Girls expressed confidence that her girls would remain in school as their hygiene has been improved through the provision of enough pads.
“When girls are given these pads, it will assist them to be in school all the time. We are sure that the entire period this term they will be in school with us,” Butit confirmed.
Fast Truck Mentors is an organisation that is involved in mentorship and empowerment within Nandi and the neighbouring counties.
The theme of this year’s World Menstrual Hygiene Day is ‘A Period Friendly World’.
By Geoffrey Satia
