Many girls in rural areas of Africa do not get an education or miss days of school primarily due to menstruation. There are many other factors that dictate the absence of girls from schools throughout Ethiopia; however, it is undeniable that menstruation is a crucial contributor.  Girls start to withdraw from school when their body is developing and going through the natural process of puberty. They do not have proper sanitary pads to take care of their menstruation nor do they have the proper education to be able to manage and maintain menstrual hygiene. Therefore, they become self-conscious and embarrassed to go to school or even partake in any other daily activity. Typically, girls in rural areas use grass, paper, cardboard and rags in place of pads to take care of their period. This causes leaks which leads to sexual harassment from their boy peers or male teachers and also infections which cause further complications in their lives. Most do not have a sustainable method of managing their periods. According to UNICEF, 1 out of 10 girls skip school due to menstruation. This is not only a single day of school, but approximately 4 to 5 days every month. This could lead to girls leaving school entirely making them vulnerable for early childhood marriage and prevent them from advancing their career life.

 

Action: There are many ways to help girls that find themselves in the above situation. ProjectReusable aims to provide a solution for this problem by providing girls in rural parts of Ethiopia with reusable sanitary pads. These sanitary pads are reusable and washable, so that they can last them longer. For more information on how ProjectReusable does its work, click here.