When a girl faces obstacles in managing her menses in a healthy way, she is at risk for infection, her self-esteem and self-confidence suffer, she may remain absent from school during her period, or worse still, drop out of school altogether upon reaching puberty. Over time, these negative effects add up, preventing a young girl from achieving her full potential and having a healthy, productive life.
Sofia Akello from Gulu district had to drop out of school at primary 5 after she missed her final exams because of her periods. “When I started menstruating, I had many hard days. “she says.” I could not get myself any materials to use to stop myself from soiling my clothes, it was better for me to stay at home rather than go through that shame at school and that was the end of my education.”
“I started using cloths that I would cut from my old cloth to keep the blood from staining my dresses, but they were not enough and blood would still stain my clothes," I developed fear for the shame every end of the month. At 13-year-old, she dropped out of school, and was forced to get married because she could not stand the boys laughing at me whenever my periods started. Now she has 21 years with 3 children who she takes care of and pay for her daughter’s school fees. “After joining the Lucky Girls Group at Vac-Net/WGEF office in Gulu, she learnt how to manage my periods with dignity”, she is part of the team that is working to solve this bleeding shame problem which is holding young girl’s dreams in balance.
“I feel I have regained my pride as a young woman”.
When a girl faces obstacles in managing her menses in a healthy way, she is at risk for infection, her self-esteem and self-confidence suffer, she may remain absent from school during her period, or worse still, drop out of school altogether upon reaching puberty. Over time, these negative effects add up, preventing a young girl from achieving her full potential and having a healthy, productive life.
To lear more visit www.vacnetwork.org www.wgefund.org