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Msilisi Dube
ADOLESCENCE is one stage in life that throws a host of unbearable challenges for most rural girls.

It is well known that the human body goes through several inevitable changes. What becomes a thorn in the flesh to most girls from disadvantaged communities is dealing with menstruation.

This natural process comes as a problem to women and girls, especially those in rural areas. The exposure to health risks cannot be underestimated and in some cases, school girls drop out of school. For young girls, menstruation is an addition to a heap of gender disparities they face their adolescence stage.

In order to curtail the flow of monthly periods, some rural school girls use anything from rags, tree leaves, old clothes, toilet paper, newspapers, cotton wool, cloths or literally anything that can absorb the flow. Most girls from poor, rural communities do not use anything. They develop a low self-esteem that affects their self-confidence later in life.

In a recent visit to Binga’s Kariyangwe village, girls said they were not attending school when on their menses because of the stigma they face from their peers at school.

A pupil at Manjolo High school said being “on” is the most painful and sordid time in her life and contributes to school dropouts.

“When I’m on monthly periods(mp) I don’t go to school because the boys in my class always laugh at me. The reason they laugh at me is that they say I’ll be ‘flowing’. I usually use old newspapers hence they can’t hold the flow of blood. I end up staining my uniforms.

“When I’m on my periods I feel so embarrassed that’s why I opt not to attend lessons because I’ll be afraid to stain my clothes since I don’t have any protective pads”, she said timidly.

She says in this remote village, to talk about menstruation issues is taboo. There is a great degree of silence. Women are also afraid to say anything – a situation that even hinders adolescent girls’ access to relevant information about their bodies.

“In our society menstrual blood is treated as unclean and harmful. When I’m on periods I’m not allowed to go to church because it’s believed that I’ll be unclean. The problem is that my parents never taught me anything about being on periods. I only read about it at school.

“When I’m on menses I’m also restricted from participating in some activities for fear that I may contaminate others and the things that I may touch. For instance, I’m not allowed to be in the kitchen to cook or to do the dishes, and/or to participate in games with other young people. This in turn fosters stigma in me as these restrictions create the perception that menstruation is shameful,” she said.

Pretty Mwembe, a villager, has also been a silent victim of the stigma attached to menstruation for years. She opines that the transitional phase in life from childhood to adulthood should be celebrated instead of being labelled as a curse.

“This stage is marked by biological changes such as increased body size and the ability to reproduce or to think critically. However, for most girls in Binga, this phase often brings challenges that drive girls out of school and social activities, making the celebration fleeting.

“The government should make it a point that pads are provided in schools so that girls use them freely. Teachers and parents should be friendly enough to discuss issues affecting these children so as to avoid shame”, said Mwembe.

Many non-governmental organisations like Lupane Women’s Centre and SNV (Netherlands Development Organisation) have tried to help rural girls by giving them re-usable pads and equipping them with skills on how to knit and use them.

Lindiwe Ndebele, an advisor at SNV, said lack of knowledge and understanding about menstruation in most traditional and conservative communities was a key source of stigma about being on menses.

“There’s a culture of silence around menstruation leading to the menstrual process being viewed as a weakness of women. The subject is hardly ever discussed in families, resulting in it also not being an easy topic of discussion.

“The inaccessibility of menstrual products results in embarrassment, anxiety and shame when girls and women stained their clothes, which is stigmatising. I’ve travelled to many schools in Masvingo and schoolgirls described menstruation as a time of anxiety and discomfort especially at school, leading to low concentration in class,” she said

She added that most rural girls are prone to diseases such as cancer as they use unhygienic methods when on their menses.

Health activist Emmanuel Ndlovu said culturally, the issue of menstruation was treated as private hence should not be discussed in public.

“This is a private issue. Only women should teach their girl child on how to deal with it. Normal men shouldn’t be seen buying pads for their girl children”, said Ndlovu.

Sithabile Ngwenya has rolled out a project of making re-usable pads so as to help rural girls when they are on periods.

She said the idea of making these pads came into being when she visited her friend who was an inmate at Chikurubi Maximum Prison.

“I once visited my friend in prison who asked me to bring her pads. She told me that they’ve a problem in accessing the sanitary wear in prison so I thought of making these re-usable pads.

“These pads have a huge market in rural areas as compared to urban areas. In rural areas it’s hard sometimes to find a pad because the shop owners don’t sell them hence women end up using rags to control the flow. I sell these pads for a dollar for five,” she said.

Unesco estimates that one in 10 African adolescent girls miss school during their menses and eventually drop out because of menstruation-related issues, such as the inaccessibility of affordable sanitary protection, the social taboos related to menstruation, and the culture of silence that surrounds it.

Unicef also estimates that one in 10 menstruating African girls skip school four to five days per month or drop out completely. A girl absent from school due to menstruation for four days of every 28 day cycle loses 13 learning days, equivalent to two weeks of learning, every school term.