Last Wednesday (June 18th), I left Mombasa bright
and early at 7:00 along with two of my fellow colleagues – Lilian and Omondi - on
a matatu for Ganze; a beautiful rural location in Kilifi county (north of
Mombasa county). The aim of our visit was to identify stakeholders and conduct
a needs assessment for Eco Ethics’ upcoming project: Ganze Re-usable Sanitary
Towels (GRST). We are looking to implement it in the first week of July.
The GRST project seeks to empower women and girls through
raising awareness on the importance of reproductive health and menstrual
hygiene management. We will be carrying out a series of training sessions/
workshops where we will be teaching the young girls and women on how to sew
their very own reusable sanitary towel that can be reutilized for up to 4
months as well as the proper way to wash and dry these towels.
A sneak peak at the guide that I'm working on to be used in the training workshops
Once arrived in Ganze, my colleagues and I headed straight
for the Chiefs office. I asked them why this was necessary, they replied that
it was custom to go visit, get acquainted and introduced to the local
authorities of the location where you want to implement your project. It was
also an efficient way of getting statistics about the area that otherwise
cannot be found just by browsing the web. Additionally it’s a way of letting
them know that “we are locals, you know, these small communities are suspicious
of outsiders coming to do development projects”.
The Senior Chief – Mr Anderson Kahindi - was a
very friendly man who shared a lot of information with us. We found out that
Ganze has a population of precisely 12,662, 8 primary schools, but only 3
secondary schools showing just how few children advance to secondary school. Mr.
Kahindi told us that the main economic activity in the area is mostly
agriculture and the location records a staggering 87% poverty level due to the
fact that rainfall is scarce and the soil is not well suited for farming
activities. Before serving as a chief, Mr Kahindi used to be a headmaster for
12 years and was therefore very glad to hear about the Sanitary Towels Project
as “[the girls] really need it”. ‘It’ refers to not only the sanitary towels,
but also awareness of basic reproductive health and sex education. He cited
early pregnancy as one of the main factors that causes girls to drop out of
school, along with poverty, negligence, orphanage and early marriage.
The dry soil in Ganze
One of the big water tanks that is used by the community
The principles from Ganze Primary School, Ganze Girls
Secondary School and Kachororoni Primary School listed the same factors almost
verbatim. We also met Judith Uchi the Chairlady of Sauti Ya Wanawake a
Community Based Organization (CBO) with more than 1000 members. Her CBO
advocates women’s and children’s rights and in particular, against early
marriages and sexual abuses. Judith informed us that girls are often forced to
drop out to support their families, and to do so oftentimes they are either
married off (so as to not be a burden on family finances) or turn towards
prostitution, and as a result, get pregnant. She said that it was “all very
sad” and her CBO has initiated a campaign called ‘Get our girls back to school’
that holds ‘talk sessions’ with girls in various schools regarding sexual
education. Judith plans to make these
sessions into monthly talks.
The county newspaper cover for that day
After determining the causes for drop out, we interviewed a
lady who was a community based trainer (CBT) called Catherene to find out more about
whether menstruation was causing absenteeism in school. Research by UNESCO
estimates that 1 in 10 African girls skip school during their period. Catherene
said that although it was common for girls to miss 2 or 3 or even 4 days of
school due to menstruation, it was rare for them to drop out of school because
of that. She did proceed to say that there is a need in the community for
better menstrual hygiene and menstrual management. She said that commercial
pads that are available are largely unaffordable (and inaccessible in the
remote area) so women in this community have always just utilized old rags to
manage their periods.
As the CBT was in contact with local community
groups she was able to inform us that there are 15 women groups, 1 widows
group, 1 young mothers groups and a couple of youth groups (specific number not
given) in Ganze. We discussed the possibility of training the leaders of 10 of
these groups so that they can then train their respective group members as well
as turning it into a possible income generating activity. Catherene was very
enthusiastic at the prospect and said that she would have no problem mobilizing
the leaders of 10 groups.
During our visit to the last school, Ganze girls secondary,
a boarding school for high school girls, the deputy principle Mme. Akwilina
said that menstrual management was a very ‘big issue’, not just for the girls
but also for the school. A lot of the girls have to visit the infirmary as they
suffer from cramps or even faint during class. Furthermore, the school
currently has no idea of how to properly dispose of the waste. We asked what
they were doing about it and they said that they do a good job of collecting
the pads and making sure that the girls do not flush them down the toilets, but
have absolutely no clue what to do with them after collection. The deputy principle
admitted somewhat hesitantly that they just dig a hole, throw in the trash and
burn them. She said that she knew that by burning them, a lot of harmful waste
is released into the air, but that that was the only feasible solution. She was
supremely excited about the reusable sanitary towels project as she said it
would help the school greatly in waste management by decreasing waste as well
as becoming more environmentally conscious.
All in all, it was a very successful visit to the field as
everyone we met was open to and excited about the project. It indicates that
despite cultural tendencies to stigmatize menstruation - as women in certain
communities are told that they cannot attend to cattle or even cook for their
families when they are on their periods as it is believed that it will cause
the livestock to die and curse the family - people are beginning to realize
that menstruation is not a problem in itself, as it is a natural process but it
is posing challenges for young girls and women to complete their education.
