#MenstruationMatters

Yesterday I read the tweet below and my heart cried.

Over 3,211 Adolescent girls dropped out of school btn 2014-15 due to lack of Sanitary Pads in Gomba District. pic.twitter.com/4I4iRGeN3v

— Samwise Gamgee (@Sambannz) May 31, 2016

That is a huge number of gals missing out on an education because they can’t afford sanitary pads for monthly flow.

But the things we take for granted, God know we should be grateful for the small thin blessings that flow our way.

The above is not a new story, this has been a story for a many a years and I know of NGOs, initiatives and businesses like AfriPad that manufactures and sells cost-effective reusable sanitary pads tends to donate some to school with glas who can’t afford.

Though the question still remains, why is it not ending? Why is the problem still around? What is not working? Where have we failed the next mothers of this country? Are our culture norms and taboos still holding back to effectively solve this problem?

Is it our governments, corporations and NGOs who tend to look at menstrual health as a systemic and cross cutting problem and thus miss the opportunity to address the problems at scale. Yes, few have identified the link between menstrual hygiene and other health, development and empowerment outcomes — water and sanitation being one of them, but what about the others?

Its that time of the month at mine, and I can’t help feel bad for the gals who are going through this pain with no sanitary pads, the ones forced to sit it out in the wilderness until it’s done so they can join their friends at school.

The ones who will hate their menstrual cycle for life because of the things it makes them miss or takes away,  the ones who will never understand that embracing the pain has some kind of strength boost one gets every month.

Let share more about this so that we can have more Information in circulation for others to learn from our experiences. Lets fight the media messages that continue to support the taboos, negative social norms and misconceptions about menstruation.

Let’s be our sister’s keepers.

Patricia Kahill

Patricia Kahill is a multipotentialite Christian entrepreneur, Content Marketing Coach and founder of the Content Marketing agency, Kahill Insights that helps business owners create engaging and interactive content items for digital platforms with a focus on returning a desired outcome. Patricia was the producer of SlamDunk Basketball Talk a show on House of Talent online TV, a former fellow at Harvest Institute for leadership and now an assessor there, and an alumnus of the YELP class of 2017. A member of the BNI Integrity chapter and African Women Entrepreneur Cooperative. She is driven by passion and curiosity, been taking every opportunity that has been given to her with an ambition of stamping her footprint on the world.