The close to ten years Anglophone crisis in the Anglophone Regions of Cameroon have not only separated homes, but have made living difficult for young teenage girls who have been forced to now live in crowded homes in most city centers. The crisis has made these girls to live with relatives and friends who are already over burdened financially with their daily challenges. Menstruation which is a natural and biological indication that a young woman’s reproductive organs have fully matured is the shedding of the lining of the uterus monthly when her released ovum is not fertilized by a man’s sperm. This natural process in Cameroon especially in the Anglophones regional centers like Bamenda comes with a plethora of challenges like stigma, poverty, lack of acceptance and at times inadequate awareness about the phenomenon.
For girls who now live out of their family circles, one major challenge is their inability to afford sanitary pads and even the necessary care when it happens. They suffer from period-poverty and at times are forced to stay away from school during menstruation. Some of them who are students are enrolled in schools that careless about girl’s menstruation. They have no provisions for sanitary parts or operate infirmaries on campus that offer this services to young girls. UNESCO (2014), 1 in 10 girls in Sub-Saharan Africa do not attend school during their menstrual cycle. This equates to approximately 20% of school time lost in an academic year.
According to Mary Tih, a student at PCHS Mankon Bamenda, she often sits back at home each time she is menstruating.
“I often miss some of the important classes every month my period starts. It often comes with much pain on my lower abdomen accompanied with cramps and at time I cry always scared that if I go to school, my teachers will misinterpret my pains. We have a general toilet in school where both boys and girls use and this alone discourages me to be in school during such periods because I will not have a private place where I can go and change my sanitary pad. My period is always heavy and I might run shot of pads in school just prefer to sit me at home.” she said.
How the initiative works
Like Mary, many girls in Bamenda have been going through this same situation says, Wah Clotilda Andiensa, the Director Of The Centre For Advocacy In Gender Development, (CAGEAD). Through her numerous Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) project whos activities have been able to change attitudes, practices and knowledge around menstruation through among Adolescent Girls and Young women (AGYW), men and boys. Her organization has created and successfully run 22 MHM clubs in intervention schools and communities, trained 35 teachers as MHM school club coordinators and 30 AGYWs and boys as peer educators to assist in the running of these MHM school clubs.
These teachers have also increased the knowledge of 150 other teachers on MHM best practices in school through a step down training in their various schools. She has also held 20 mass sensitization sessions in schools reaching to over 12,000 students and teachers with knowledge on MHM best practices in schools. The organization uses tracking form and online community of practice forums like WhatsApp groups with all the club coordinators and principals where constant communication flows for interaction, follow up and monitoring
As a direct response to girls staying away from school while menstruating, reducing the loss of school days, ensuring comfortability while menstruating in school, 9,900 menstrual kits (Dignity kits) have been distributed to AGYW in schools in Bamenda with package also handed to these schools for emergency cases alongside analgesics for crams, toilets constructed and 10 rehabilitated from their deplorable situation to menstrual friendly safe spaces for girls. More than 10,000 girls have benefited directly from knowledge and products offered by these initiatives in Donga Mantung, Mezam and Boyo Divisions.
More Improvements for the Project.
According to Wah Clotilda Andiensa, it’s not been all rosy as she and her organization has had a plethora of challenges like inadequate Funding, Security challenges because of the ongoing Anglophone conflict and lack of Collaboration from some school authorities. According to her, with extra funding she will be able to Scale out to more schools and to other region of Cameroon.
By Ngong Song Jean Marie
Email: hilltopvoicesnewspaper@gmail.com
Tel: 6 94 71 85 77
