•May 28, World Menstrual Hygiene Day•
Every day presents one facinating fact about women or another. Today however, is not an exception. The month, May, brings along with it so many memories for women; exciting memories and even some filled with certain difficult times. Today, we remember that menstruation for women is somewhat a challenging journey. From the discomforts, to the mood swings, to the outright pains. A woman’s menstrual Hygiene needs appropriate management and attention and requires speedy access to products and facilities that aids it’s process.
It’s always a challenging period for women. For many, there may not be an obvious pain but still, the discomfort that comes from the constant consciousness of the fluids and tissues shedding, to the gushing of thick lumps which has an irritable effect in the body, to the food cravings, to the lethargy that follows tracking how long the pad has stayed on you (which determines a dimension of your health). For others, it is a dramatic showcase of a full blown pain, which has a tendency to put others in the room into a state of confusion. So, every single month, every healthy woman between the ages of 11-51, experiences pregnancy symptoms in the guise of menstruation for days.
I’ve had first hand experiences of this pain and discomfort. I’ve been stained and embarrassed as a result of minimal knowledge of how my menstrual cycle works. Truly, knowledge about this enigmatic phenomenon is required and it’s importance can never be overemphasized and this calls for more adults who are familiar with the menstrual system to reach out to girls around them, educating them and answering their questions without any form of bias.
Funnily, I hear that certain archaic traditions forbid a menstruating woman from cooking food for either her husband or a titled man and even restricts the woman from certain societal activities. Not forgetting the fact that it is mostly a taboo to talk about menstruation openly. It is sadly certain that women’s rights are being trampled upon but, forbidding a woman for undergoing a completely healthy, biological process, makes absolutely no sense to me!
Instead of formulating abominations, the least you could for a woman who bleeds at least 4 days in month is to be empathic and of great help to her. An act of service or two won’t change your name of course, neither will sending money run down your pocket for life! So, for the MAN, who must have been enveloped by his custom confusion reading this and is overwhelmed and does not have an idea what to do, you can hereby begin to send ‘period allowance’ to your sister, wife, girlfriend/s and even neighbors and school children. Some of these ladies need it because period poverty is real.
Today is World Menstrual Hygiene Day! To support this movement, you can;
•Create awareness✔️
•Pad a girl✔️
•Become more empathic✔️
•Advocate for the inclusion of favourable menstrual conditions in local and global polices✔️
•Be a part of healthy campaigns for women and their rights✔️
•Provide basic menstrual facilities that reduce the challenges and improves the hygiene of women✔️
BE THE CHANGE WE WANT TO FEEL.
©Nympha Chinenye Nzeribe
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