by Juliana Sebben

To get your period in the United States isn’t a celebratory occasion for most, but neither is it a shameful affair of secrecy and fear. When I first bled into my underwear as a 6th grader, the shock of the red stain wasn’t one of confusion; I’d been told by my mother what types of changes my body would go through and knew I could go to her with the news. I remember she gave me a box of pads and a hug. 

My experience getting my period isn’t the universal one I once thought it was. Across the world in Mbale, Uganda, a school-aged girl beginning menstruation is much more likely to meet her bleed with fear and shame. A lack of access to menstrual products, education and/or hygiene facilities, otherwise known as period poverty, may prevent her from properly caring for her period, and the widespread stigma against menstruation may prevent her from ever learning how to do so. Unable to afford the price of marketplace pads or tampons, girls in the poverty-stricken region of Mbale often improvise with the fibers of banana leaves or cloth. But, with 99% of Mbale schools lacking running water, working toilets or soap, it remains impossible for girls to properly care for their menstrual cycles. The result is an epidemic of girls unable to attend school for the week each month that they bleed. 

“Reusable pads have the power to do more than just keep billions of plastic, chemical-laden pads and tampons out of our landfills and waterways. When put in the right hands, they also have the power to change a girl’s world and give her the power to change ours.” 

“It’s very common in the villages of Uganda,” explains Dorothy Musiimenta, Progam Manager for I Am A Girl (IAG), a women’s empowerment NGO based in Mbale. “The price of pads on market is too expensive. She begins to miss 3-5 days of school every month, and it becomes hard for her to catch up to the kids that have been studying every day.” 

Even worse than falling behind is what often happens to girls who stay home from school. “When she misses that time, she is home doing nothing,” Dorothy says. “The parent looks at her and says, ‘oh, you are already menstruating, so you can give birth; why don’t I marry you off? Maybe I can get a dowry, something in exchange for you.’ And so these girls end up being forced into marriage at a very young age.” 

One of these girls crossed the path of IAG Founder & Executive Director, Kirabo Grace Desire, in 2019. The two met on a weekday at Desire’s well, where the girl was fetching water and visibly upset. In conversation, the girl revealed to Desire that she was out of school because her mother, without an income, couldn’t afford pads for her. Her father, she went on, now wanted to marry her off in exchange for payment, just as he had recently done with her 15-year-old big sister. The interaction moved Desire deeply, driving her to create a reusable pad program that would allow girls to remain in school and avoid early marriage. 

I Am A Girl’s reusable pad program is now a pillar of the organization, which has worked to empower and protect women through mental health advocacy, economic empowerment and menstrual education since 2019. The program provides monthly in-school workshops where girls are freely provided the materials and resources to construct their own reusable pads. 

“It’s a very beautiful experience,” Dorothy says. “When we go to a school, we interact with girls of menstruating age, some as young as 9 years old. We share with them what menstruation is, and how they can overcome the challenges, like pain and low self-esteem. Then we go into the process of making a pad; they do it with us. After its made, we do a demonstration of how to use it. At the end, we leave them with more material so they can make even more at home. It’s a simple cotton material that anyone can afford; they last for six months.” 

The program has proven to be a remarkable success in the community. IAG’s 2021 Annual Report shared 74% of girls had missed school because of their period before their involvement with IAG programs, 92% not knowing how to make a reusable pad. In the six months after program, only 38% missed school because of their period, 94% knew how to make reusable pads, and 100% used them. 

From any perspective, these successes are huge, indicating the possibility of a break in the cycle of period poverty and all its implications. A girl able to attend school because she can properly care for her cycle is at lower-risk for early marriage, which is linked to higher chances of experiencing violence, abuse or forced sexual relations. A girl able to finish school is able to go on to receive a job so that she can have the freedom of making her own money. Finally, a girl who completes her education is in the best position to take positively impactful action for herself, others, and the planet. 

Women and girls, as 70% of the 1.3 billion people living in poverty, are often indicated as the most vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters. But, far from merely being the most likely to be victimized, women and girls can also be the most effective agents of social and planetary change when provided the proper resources and opportunities. For this reason, educating girls is listed by Project Drawdown as #6 out of a 100 of the most effective climate solutions. 

Dorothy smiles at me when I ask in our interview about the importance of girls receiving education. “Me and you are girls,” she says. “If I didn’t go to school, I wouldn’t be here talking to you. I wouldn’t be here doing work to help other girls. Education gets you a job here in Uganda; but it also helps empower girls to have the confidence to stand up and speak for themselves, to know their rights.” 

In the West, we see reusable pads as a choice we make for the health of the environment. But reusable pads have the power to do more than just keep billions of plastic, chemical-laden pads and tampons out of our landfills and waterways. When put in the right hands, they also have the power to change a girl’s world and give her the power to change ours. 

To support the on-going work of I Am A Girl, learn more at their website or donate directly here.

Photos courtesy of I Am A Girl.