NGO Commemorates World Hygiene Day With Osun Rural, Urban Women, Distributes Free Sanitary Pads 

A Non-Governmental Organisation in Osun state, Value Female Network (VFN) has distributed free sanitary pads to over 200 girls and women from the rural and urban areas of the state in commemoration of this year’s World Menstrual Hygiene Day. 

Speaking, the Coordinator of VFN,  Miss Costly Aderibigbe said the NGO distributed free sanitary pads to over 150 girls from 4 Schools with members of the NGO’s girls Club while about 53 girls and women from 11 villages in the state also benefited from the intervention. 

The 11 Osun villages that VFN visited to commemorate the annual menstrual hygiene day include Ponpola, Oteda, Kuguaye, Aisu, Obannasa, Olumofo, Babanla, Monbi, Age, Eleesan and Itedo.

According to Aderibigbe,  the organization also trained the females on menstrual hygiene management and exposed some myths surrounding menstruation.

She said,  “Menstrual Hygiene Day, celebrated on May 28, aims to raise awareness of the fundamental role that Menstrual Hygiene Management plays in enabling women and girls to reach their full potential especially in areas such as education.

“Poor menstrual hygiene prevents girls from participating and attending school, as they feel shame and fear humiliation from their peers.

“Globally, 26 percent of the total population is of reproductive age. For all of these women and girls, menstruation is a natural and monthly reality. However, as the subject continues to be taboo in societies around the world, access and information about menstrual hygiene management remain limited.

“In Africa, 1 in 10 girls miss class or drop out of school entirely due to their period. When girls drop out of school at an early age, they are less likely to return to education, leaving them vulnerable to early marriage, violence and child labour.

“According to the UN’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF), girls who remain in secondary school are six times less likely to marry young.”

On the gaps VFN identified in n the villages visited, Aderibigbe expressed worry that most girls miss school because they couldn’t afford sanitary pad when observing their monthly circle.

“For girls in these villages, Menstruation means missing School. Majority of Girls in identified villages miss school for a minimum of 15 days in a term as a result of lack of sanitary pad and access to clean and safe toilets. There is no facility for them to change or wash their cloths so they felt it too challenging to attend school during menstruation and few drop out of School.

“These girls lack information on menstrual hygiene management. they use old cloths to absorb menstrual flow during their period without proper hygienic care for the Cloth.

There is also a lot of Social Stigma around Menstruation in these communities. These girls shared with us lots of myths around menstruation. 

“Shukurat, an 18yr old girl told VFN team that she was made to believe that menstruation makes girls unclean and when a girl have sex during menstruation, she will give birth to albino.”

Meanwhile,  the NGO has allayed the participants’ fear that menstruation makes them unclean through an interactive and practical session held on how to make reusable menstrual pad. 

These girls were made to understand that menstruation is not a disease and were enlightened about home and life style modification management of common menstrual disorders in a language they understand.

“We (VFN team) held a practical session on how to make Reusable Menstrual Pad using Needle and Thread, Ankara, Flannel, Polyurethane and stop button. They made samples themselves during the training,” the coordinator said. 

For Kausarat, a 15 year old girl, she had gotten stained several times and mocked by her peers because she uses cloth for her periods and lacks money to purchase sanitary pad.

Kausarat however joined other participants in expressing gladesss on the training on how to make reusable sanitary pads saying she had been empowered to make money with the skill.