Ahead of the International Menstrual Hygiene Day (MHD), Mother Charity N Children Foundation (MCNCF), an NGO, has sensitised young girls in Ojo, Ira, a suburb of Lagos, to the importance of menstrual hygiene.
Mrs Ndidiamaka Zainab, Founder, MCNCF, disclosed this at an event to mark the International Menstrual Day on Friday in Lagos.
Zainab said though the MHD was held on May 28, her foundation had chosen to mark it earlier, to afford them the opportunity to drag home their campaign to students of the Ojo Ira community.
The founder said that the theme of the 2023 Menstrual Hygiene Day was making menstruation a normal fact of life by 2030.
She noted that the goal of the global community was to build a world where no one was held back because of menstruation by 2030.
According to her, some young girls at puberty would always shy away from the reality of menstruation.
“This is why we are carrying out the sensitisation campaign to teach them about menstrual hygiene and how to take care of themselves and not feel shy about menstrual flow.
“We want them to take it as a normal fact of life because having menstruation is a privilege.
“There are many girls that are not seeing their period. If a young girl or a woman is seeing her menstrual flow, it shows that the person is alive,” Zainab said.
She said that the foundation was out to appeal to the male folk also not to stigmatise the female folk on the basis of menstruation.
The founder noted that the foundation in 2022 took the campaign of menstrual hygiene to the riverine areas in a project they titled “Pad a Woman”.
“The girls were taught how to make reusable sanitary pads; it was a wonderful project.
“They were so happy about it. So this year we said let’s come to the school because the boy child needs to be aware that the girl child is special.
“We are not just ordinary girls; we want them to respect us. We want to teach them what many of their parents don’t teach them at home about their sisters and their girlfriends,” Zainab said.
The highlight of the event was the donation of 350 pads to young girls and students within the community.
The International Menstrual Hygiene Day was established in 2014 by the German-based NGO WASH United.
The Day was set aside to raise conversation on how women and girls could manage their menstruation hygienically, safely, and dignifiedly.
