The Life of An Ordinary African Girl: The Fight Against Period Poverty

Written by Alfred George Ochieng

Are we really empowering girls if we remain latent amidst the rise in period poverty cases? History corroborates that we must evolve from our past mistakes if we want to build a better world for the upcoming generations. But how can that be achieved if we are always back pedalling? Period poverty is somewhat an intricate  word used to refer to the struggles of a girl during her menstruation. As much as it is a planetary  issue, I would like to highlight this struggle in my motherland, Africa, where it determines a lot in the life of an ordinary African girl.

Most girls get their first period between the age of 9 and 18 years. From the onset of her period journey, the girl is seen as a mature member of the society who can care for herself, a bold assumption indicating the high level of period illiteracy amongst African men and women. An assumption to defend the unnoticed stigmatisation that the girl child has to face, period illiteracy is lack of awareness, or proper education on the menstrual cycle and hygiene.

Menstrual hygiene is a topic that is highly neglected in many African countries. In Ghana and Nigeria, there are inadequate pad disposal facilities. In Uganda, there is a lack of sanitation and hygiene infrastructure, and we even have inadequate disposal facilities. We even have girls digging up holes on the ground during their period due to lack of period products and insight on the hygienic practices. In Namibia, the majority of households are poverty-stricken, so they cannot afford good quality sanitary pads and resort to cheaper alternatives which can cause adverse health complications. Ignorance of menstrual hygiene can lead to reproductive, urinary tract and yeast infections. But this is not the only issue the girl child is grappling with. In  countries like Ethiopia and Gambia, the girls have  to miss school for  weeks  due to the lack of feminine hygiene products, and in some adverse situations like in Somalia, the girl has to be married off at a  young age by the parents and bear children, which can be a hindrance to their pursuit of their dreams.

The few examples above are just a tip of the iceberg in regards to what the girl child faces not only in Africa but the greater world as upheld by the World Bank which states that close to 500 million girls grapple with this issue. I would highly advocate for affordable good quality period products, better sanitation infrastructure, menstrual education and changing social norms by reversing period stigma globally. Let’s work together to eradicate period poverty in Africa and the larger globe to improve the menstrual heath of the girl child and give her hope to pursue her dreams.