Menstruation products don’t come cheap, but for anyone with a period, they’re essential. Women, girls in Nigeria and the world over are forced to resort to toilet paper, old scraps of fabric or absolutely nothing at all during their time of the month. Which is why Hope and Dreams Initiative celebrates Menstrual Hygiene Day (MH Day) to raise awareness of the challenges people face and open the dialogue on menstruation and distribute menstrual hygiene products to girls in public schools to prevent them from being sexually molested.
This year we want to say no more limits, no more shame on period or towards any girl menstruating. We want to create awareness and involve the boys, men and the whole community. We want everybody to start talking about menstruation, menses or period because it’s a natural thing and it feels cool to have period.
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LEA Aleyita Primary School
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LEA Kuchigooro Primary School
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LEA Kunyami Primary School
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LEA Kapwa Primary School
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LEA Bassan Jiwa Primary School
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LEA Gui Primary School
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LEA Chika Primary School
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LEA Barwa Primary School
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LEA PRIMARY SCHOOL PIWOYI
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LEA PRIMARY SCHOOL KUNYAMI
Activities done on that day:
Experience Sharing; This was one of the most exciting activities as it was interactive and at the end, it totally achieved its aim. It was an inter generational sharing session, where adults were invited to share stories of their first menstrual experiences. These stories helped the younger ones feel more relaxed. Young menstruating pupils had the privilege to share their experiences after hearing from the adults.
Painting; This was almost a spiritual time for the kids especially, as they transferred all forms of their emotion to the painting canvas with the paint on it, using brushes, sprays and their bare hands.
Hand Washing Techniques; There was a serious emphasis on hand washing. To handle this activity, children were asked to demonstrate their personal hand washing procedure, afterward, there was a demonstration of the right procedure of hand washing.
Sanitary Packs; Re-usable Pads and underwear were shared accordingly to all menstruating students in attendance. A total of 500 Re-usable underwear and 500 Re-usable pads were given. This segment didn’t stop in sharing it to them, those materials were opened and the process of its usage was displayed in a glamorous manner.
Menstrual Hygiene Talk; We had a menstrual hygiene interactive talk with a medical practitioner. This session took the event to a very professional light and widened the knowledge available.
Drama; The host school presented a drama, unfolding the troubles faced by girls especially with their first menstrual experiences. This drama was an educative play that lasted for minutes yet sowed a seed that can last for a lifetime
A total of 1000 books was distributed to continue with our goal of changing the poor reading culture in Nigeria.
