Today marks the Menstrual Hygiene Day , a day to break the silence and build awareness about the fundamental role that good menstrual hygiene management (MHM) plays in enabling women and girls to reach their full potential. This day provides a global platform for partners across all sectors to engage in action, advocacy and knowledge-sharing around menstrual hygiene management. Menstrual Hygiene Day was initiated by WASH United in 2013 and acts as its International Secretariat.
Growing up, menstruation was a taboo topic to talk about openly because with it came dire consequences like isolation and utter embarrassment. In fact, I remember back in Primary school I would hide my sanitary towel when going to change just so that no one knows am serving my time. Even as time has changed, there’s still a huge deal of shame around periods as they are regarded gross and dirty especially by men.
Remember Menstruation is a healthy biological process that every healthy woman goes through at least three days in a month. This equates to having at least a packet of sanitary towels in a month. However, this commodity has been out of reach for many Kenyan girls especially in the rural areas and they resort to other queer means like chicken feathers, cheap mattresses and newspapers to fashion makeshift pads to “hide the shame”. Recent interventions, like the distribution of free sanitary towels to public schools by the government, have seen more girls from remote parts of this country access this commodity, though there is still evidence that not all schools especially from the remote areas have benefited from this necessary yet elusive product. Some players like ZanaAfrica Foundation and Pad Haven create affordable and reusable sanitary towels for the Kenyan girl. Menstrual hygiene is not an option but rather a necessity for every girl.
Despite the progress made in creating awareness on the subject matter , some religions across the globe have approached it with misinformation because of deeply-rooted cultural taboos surrounding menstruation (menstrual taboos). Some church fathers defended the exclusion of women from ministry based on a notion of uncleanness. For example, in many traditional Hindu homes in India, girls and women face restrictive taboos relative to menstruation, such as being denied entry to the temple and the kitchen.
The first step is creating awareness by teaching children that periods are natural and normal, breaking down any misconceptions, and by doing so no girl will be shocked when they first get their period. This should also trickle down to men and everyone else in the society on the normalcy of this topic and how they can work together to debunk these taboos.
Before I finish, let me remind you that even Jesus himself allowed to be touched by the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years, and he healed her. Let’s not isolate girls and women on the basis of a normal biological process.
Am taking a step by sharing this;

Photo courtesy of menstrualhygieneday.org
What will you do?
Well, apart from just teaching girls about good menstrual hygiene management, I feel that there is also a need to talk about the different menstrual products ranging from sanitary towels, tampons, and menstrual cups. I know of some ladies who swear by sanitary towels meaning they can never use tampons or cups. While those who use menstrual cups say that it’s the best product to use, many women believe this product to be uncomfortable, even without trying it out. So, there definitely needs to be awareness on the use of these different products to debunk some of the myths surrounding them.
I had previously written about the Hedhi Menstrual Cup, citing its advantages and just trying to debunk some of the assumptions people have about menstrual cups. I’d love to hear from those who’ve especially tried the 3 different menstrual products, on why they would prefer one or the other.
Hello ladies, first I would like to sincerely appreciate the good work that this blog is doing for the ladies. I am Tabitha Kaleji,community health volunteer in eldoret-uasin Gishu county. Currently my biggest concern in our villages is teenage pregnancy and teenage mother how.
I Am writing to you with one request,kindly if the blog can help me donate sanitary pads for the teenage girls and teenage mothers’ I will highly appreciate. Forgive me if have used the wrong criteria and God bless you all for changing the lives of our girls out there.
Hello Tabitha, that is very thoughtful of you.Sorry we don’t deal directly with donations but we can point you to people who might help in that area.In this case, you can try contacting Pad Heaven, a Kenyan sanitary pad manufacturer and see if they can help you. All the best.