Periods...gross

Re-useable Pad

The Menstrual Cycle. Say these words in front of some men and they may quiver. We all know about the dare I say it...dreaded 'period' and women can easily take care for it in Australia and continue their life as per normal. But what about in the other places in the world? What happens when you get your 'lady business' in a third world country like Kenya? Well let me tell you, although you may not like to hear it. If the women of Kenya can afford to use disposable sanitary items, they will. They are expensive, but not everyone in Kenya is poor. If you cannot afford them however, then it is a different story. The Masai women take an unorthodox approach when they are menstruating. It is known that Masai women do a number of things, the first being the use of cow dung to line their underwear. Yeah you heard correctly, COW DUNG! They replace the dung daily until they have completed their cycle. If they have duties to carry out, they may insert pieces of cow dung into their vagina. Clearly, this is not particularly hygienic, nor I imagine comfortable and it can have some dire consequences such as infection. Finally they may simply dig a hole and sit over that hole for days on end, just watching the birds singing and clouds clapping until their cycle has completed. Talk about sore legs. Now that is the Masai women and the Masai hold on to their tradition very strongly. It is a different story where we live. Firstly the girls are not educated on health, puberty and the intricate workings of their body during this time. They obviously know something about their menstrual cycle, but they do not understand what is occurring, why they are getting it and the complications that can arise from it. If you are a Kenyan women at home and your job is your farm or family, you simply menstruate in your underwear and then wash them. By the way no washing machines here, all items hand washed in the river or a bucket. Do you know how hard it is to wash sheets in a bucket. Takes all day and your arms ache so bad. This is also the same for teenage girls. If they can get access to old newspapers, cardboard etc, they may line their underwear with that. Some girls use old ripped clothes that they may have at home although most just wear their old ripped clothes. A major issue with girls that attend school is that during their period they stay at home and miss school for the entire time. This is very detrimental to their schooling as education is a key avenue for these children to increase their quality of life and prospects in the future. When girls are missing potentially up to 12 weeks a year, they have missed much and the teachers are not willing to catch the girls up. So their are two issues here with teenage girls especially. The unfortunate measures taken when menstruating, the hygiene and not to mention comfort issue, but also the educational issue. That is where we step in. Every Friday we visit schools within the community and conduct health talks focusing on puberty, reproductive health, sexual education and hygiene. We complete an informational lecture, then have discussion and question time. We also help to donate re-useable pads for the females when we have the finances. The North Gem Community Resource Center make re-useable pads for girls with the thought that they can then attend school when they are menstruating and simply wash the pad at night. They are around $1 each so unfortunately we do not always have them to hand out. Luckily my mum (love you mum) and her friend Deb (you too Deb) have donated 200 re-useable pads and some of the other volunteers have worked hard to gain support for this cause. It is a difficult situation and one that I cannot fully comprehend as I am a male and I luckily do not get my period, although Jemma may think so at times, however, we do our best to help support the women, in particular the school girls of the community.