By Ragan M. Conteh
One of the leading women organisations in Sierra Leone, Girl Child Network (GCN) Sierra Leone, in partnership with United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), has vowed, in the next couple of weeks, to distribute 13,000 menstrual pads to students mostly in the fishing communities in the Western Area Urban and Rural District.
This was disclosed on Thursday 4th March 2021 during the training on Menstrual Hygiene Management of 194 schools, including students and teachers at Tombo Secondary School within the fishing communities in the Western Rural District.
The purpose of the training, on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) in schools, according to the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Girl Child Sierra Leone, Madam Anita Koroma, was to better understand the challenges girls face due to menstruation and describe factors which influence girls’ experiences during menstruation.
According to Madam Anita, the training also creates a supportive school environment for adolescent girls, women and girls in fishing communities, adding that the decision to train these communities is to safeguard schoolgirls’ overall health and wellbeing.
She pointed out that participants from several primary and secondary schools, including teachers, were engaged in a variety of qualitative methods, which focused on girls, boys, mothers, fathers and teachers, respectively.
Madam Koroma furthered that girls face many challenges when managing their menstruation, adding that menstruation reduces girls’ school participation, distraction and stress, including concern that someone would know they were menstruating; fear about blood stains and being bullied by classmates.
She pointed out that many girls receive this training from female teachers; girls have limited knowledge, which can lead led to anxiety about perceived dangers of menstruation.
She is convinced that menstrual periods is not a taboo topic, adding that she is not surprised to learn that the first time most girls in Sierra Leone get their period, they have no idea what is happening.
The Education Specialist, UNICEF, Aiah Mbayo, said many girls stay at home from schools rather than dealing with all this potential embarrassment and shame. She informed that girls lose weeks of the school year simply because they don’t have a reliable way to manage their period.
Aiah Mbayo stated that the good news is that Girl Child Network organisations and UNICEF are partnering to educate community schools to put a stop to the myth. According to her, they are educating women and girls the truth about menstruation and sexual health.
He said women and girls are given practical advice and are also providing access to sanitary pads by Girl Child Network (GCN).
According to Aiah Mbayo, they are not only educating girls, they also make reusable sanitary pads which they distribute to the girls who attend their training workshops.
Lucida Rosaline Wilson and Gibril Mansaray, from Agape School Experimental High School, said the training is very important as many of them do not have knowledge of menstrual period, adding that the training is an opportunity for them, as students in fishing communities, to acquire knowledge on menstrual hygiene management.
He said they have no fear in serving as ambassadors to their parents and colleague students; and vowed to replicate what they have learnt from the training.
Binta Daramy, from Chambers REC Primary School at Fonima Goderich, also expressed thanks to Girl Child Network for impacting knowledge on them on Menstrual Hygiene Management. She described the training as timely, because many of their colleagues find it difficult to stay in schools during menstruation period.
A teacher, from Chambers Primary School, Mrs. Tina Bundor, disclosed that, as teachers, they sometimes experience a lot of school girls abandoning classes as a result of menstruation.
She expressed gratitude to Girl Child Network and UNICEF for the training as it was geared toward good health and promotion of girl child education in Sierra Leone.
Many students and teachers, from various communities in Tombo and Goderich, benefited from the Menstrual Hygiene Management training, while GCN Volunteer and trainer, Marie Marion Bangura, also buttressed the importance of menstrual hygiene management training on girl child education and their health.