Supporting young girls in rural area for their menstrual cycle

Supporting Young Girls campaign

This is a campaign designed by AFED to make sure we keep girls in school during their menstrual cycle because young girls in rural area don’t go to school for 3-7 days per month when they are in menstrual cycle which make more than 2.5 months per year. As an organization we believe that, in order to achieve Gender equality a girl should be in school by giving them right information on menstruation and how to count their calendar and providing free pads because in rural area not everyone can afford to buy sanitary pads. Education will help a girl to stand by herself, to reason and claim her right.

Statement Of The Problem

We are grown up in societies where there is difference since birth in rearing male and female baby. We grew up in an environment where treatment between boys and girls seems been old, and more priority is given to boys just because of culture which is a manmade. We grew up in the rural area where in our primary school and secondary school students especially girls are facing hard time when they are in their menstrual cycle they have no idea on how they can count their calendar so that they can be prepared. Father‘s shoulder starts drooping as soon as baby girl takes birth. Boy family has all the right to fulfill their materialistic needs suppressed for several years and yes, they don’t have to pay the servant now as they are hiring life time services free of cost. Girl family now has to give up all their material needs and borrow money for dowry, which has to be paid till life and death. Sounds like a Bollywood movie, but it’s a bitter truth please digest it for God sake!!

Truly we are not smart people when this system of grown-ups and failure still there. let’s come to focus now, if we really want to do women empowerment, we need to create awareness to these unaware and ignorant people about all these issues.

Education, both formal and informal, is one of the most important means of empowering women with the knowledge, skills and self-confidence necessary to care for their own health as well as the health of those around them. A child born to a mother who can read is 50 percent more likely to survive past the age of 5 than a child born to an illiterate woman. When girls are educated, the overall health of a community increases

Girls growing up all over the world are passing through menstrual cycle and is not a choice for them because is something which define them that they are woman. Unfortunately Pads are sold and not every girl in rural area can afford to buy one. We can control it and reduce discrimination that they are facing. In some community, girls and woman are using local ways including piece of fabric, sand and animal dung during their menstrual period, to keep "impurity" out of the house.

Other communities’ girls are not even allowed to leave home during their periods just because of their blessed uniqueness which prove that they are unique and so they miss out from school. In other areas, girls have been forced to belief that bathing near shared utensils during menstruation can cause a family member to die. Girls are very unique. Despite all these challenges facing in communities. Some students make jokes and girls are introduced to the idea of menses as disgusting and should remain private. They are forced to remain silence in fact learning and understanding in school is reduced.

Parents and caregivers have to be open and talk to girls so that they can be aware on menstruation. Teachers as well should do same not only with girls but with boys too in order to help to reduce psychological damage to girls which caused by being pointed by finger. Society also needs to understand that, things are changing now and everything now is different from their time back. Their culture and norms that they used to live on now need to be changed. There is a great need to put a dent on thinking and society brain, so that can reset their customs and culture.

We stand to say that it’s time now to break the silence by raising awareness campaign to the community so that parents can take up responsibility to educate their children in all aspect of living, and health because this will increase the knowledge and give them a right sense of reasoning and get prepared for their period.

Teachers, Parents and caregivers should take responsibility in giving children clear and helpful messages about their bodies’ changes in order to be prepared and avoid early pregnancy which will cause to end the dream of a girl.

Healthy education is critical for helping prevent sexual abuse and for increasing the chances of reporting if abuse occurs. With such a healthy attitude toward young girls, they can develop the vocabulary to talk to responsible adults. They can feel less shame if they have been abused. To accomplish this requires education of teachers, care givers, health care professionals and of parents.

Children who are taught about when they will start their menstrual cycle are more likely than others to tell an adult if they had, or were actually experiencing sexual abuse. .

Every girl deserves hygienic menstrual no matter she is from urban or rural area, both rural and urban girls deserves equal opportunity irrespective of their need.

Even now and then, a young girl in rural area, when they are in their menstrual cycle they don’t go to school because of feeling uncomfortable, shame and even being psychological affected because they have no idea on how to keep themselves clean which sometimes are being stigmatized just because they are in their uniqueness. This sad trend must stop so that we can help the young girls to achieve their dreams.

Lots of girls are suffering out there especially these who are living in rural area because they can't afford the cost of sanitary pads. We need to work as a team to support them even to present our concern to the Government so that Sanitary Pads can be provided for free because is one of the basic things that girls need and is not an option for them to undergo menstrual cycle.

Supporting young girls by offering just one pact of pads can help to keep a girl at school during her menstrual cycle for 3-7 days which will give her a chance to attend class in order to reduce the gap which have already exist between man and woman. By doing this, is one of the strategy of Women Empowerment because education can ensure equal right to women, and to make them confident enough to claim their rights such as freely live their life with a sense of self-worth, respect and dignity, have complete control of their life, both within and outside of their home and workplace, to make their own choices and decisions, have equal rights to participate in social, religious and public activities, have equal social status in the society, have equal rights for social and economic justice, determine financial and economic choices, get equal opportunity for education, get equal employment opportunity without any gender bias, get safe and comfortable working environment, Women have the rights to get their voices heard. The only way of getting there is by keeping them at school.

Our happiness is to see young girls in rural are succeeding by motivating them and assist them to accouter their challenges facing during their menstrual so that they can keep moving forward to accomplish their dreams. Their circumstance for us is not a reason to let go the clear vision of our young girls and lose direction. No! we need to see their success by any means in order to reach the goal of reducing the imbalance by empowering them so that they can keep moving forward by keeping the girls in school which will results to sustainable development because once we educate girls we educate the whole society. We seek to see the advancement young girl in rural area where many challenges are there they get the opportunity of education without missing those 84 days per year just because of their menstrual cycle. We want to ensure that the girls are educated enough to know how to make the right decisions at various stages in their lives. We want to help the young girls to realize their full potential