I recently went to a local shop in my rural home in Kenya to purchase a pack of sanitary towels. I walked into one retail shop full of men and women and asked for the sanitary towels. Everyone at the shop gave me an astonishing stare as though i asked for a smuggling in presence of security officers. For a moment i felt confused before i could recollect a menstrual hygiene project we had just concluded in one of the counties.
Menstruation is a toll order for girls in Africa. It's barred by negative cultural beliefs, stigma and lack of knowledge of the biological processes taking place in a woman's body. This is more especially for girls from the base of the pyramid (BoP) segment where the three aspects mentioned appear to be so closely knit.
So then how do this girls manage their periods?
Well, here are the options. The disposable sanitary pads available in the market are not affordable and whenever girls get some money for the products, they still fear to openly purchase the products from the retail shops. So then this sounds like its not an option.
Reusable sanitary pads are way more affordable and can be easily made at home. However, this pads require a high level of hygiene which calls for proper cleaning and sun drying. The Bop segment in Africa do not have access to adequate water and in the informal settlements where households live so close together its is difficult to openly dry sanitary pads in the sun. This poses serious health issues on the girls.
Well, it seems like Africa is still lacking real solutions to the real problems at the BoP segment. This is why i recently joined hands with two of my friends to develop solutions that suits the different contexts and cultures in-order to enable women and girls reclaim their dignity.