Adolescent girls growing up in poverty face more barriers to education than boys. One such barrier is menstrual poverty. Most girls in Budiriro are living in poverty were most families live on less than US1.90, which is also the cost of a single pack of sanitary pads.
In an interview with Sekai Nzira who was supported through secondary school by an organisation for female education, she says she looks back on her own adolescence to shine a spotlight on the devastating consequences for all the girls in Budiriro who can’t afford basic menstrual products.
She goes on to say that the lack of sanitary wear in societies is a huge barrier that needs to be addressed now and especially when schools re-open during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘Growing up too fast was a challenge on its own, as my parents were not ready for another girl who was menstruating’ Sekai further illustrated. She was just 12 when she had her first period, still in primary school and she had not even received classes on menstrual health.
Life got a little more complicated for her as she did not have the adequate sanitary material, let alone the knowledge on how to use any. She further said, ‘Since I was super young in comparison to my sisters, my mother had to sacrifice precious household money for the first and only pack of cotton for my pre-teen years. The following month I was told to look for some soft material from the pillow that I slept on’.
It was a struggle to not only use unconventional material but together with underwear that was too sizes bigger which her sister had lended her, and feared that the cloth would drop off, the ordeal was just unimaginable, she said.
The other problems associated with periods for Budiriro girls is water shortages because water points such as boreholes and wells are far off. This is so because council tap water is very scarce in Budiriro.
Sekai on behalf of the girls and women in this community is asking the responsible stakeholders to provide sanitary wear and water points such as simple tanks so that the girls will have water to have atleast a quick half bath in the morning to atleast reduce the smell associated with period blood.
By Charlotte Musoni