Roughly half of the female population -- around 26 per cent of the global population are of reproductive age. Most women menstruate each month for about two to seven days. Yet, as normal as it is, menstruation is stigmatized around the world.
“My younger siblings, my father and I are sitting on the veranda together eating beetroot. I stand up again and again to pick beetroot from the bowl on the table. “Fiehluna!” Oliver suddenly says. “What’s wrong? Your skirt is covered in blood!” I’m frightened and quickly look at the back of my skirt. Oliver is right; my skirt is full of blood. I’m so surprised that I just can’t imagine what this could be. I’m not feeling any 101 pain and can’t remember that I wounded myself somewhere. The ground looks clean here. I can’t see pins, a needle or something on which I could have hurt myself. Suddenly, I think about the words of my former biology teacher in Ngi. She said that we girls will have our periods soon. It means nothing bad; it’s just to let us know that we can bear children. She also said that we should be very careful with men once we have started having our period. She explained all types of contraceptive methods and how we could identify our cycle day. “I think I have my period,” I say in a very low voice. I feel really embarrassed. I think my father is embarrassed as well, he doesn’t say a single word. Angelina takes me to her bedroom the moment she sees my bloody skirt. She tells me that I have my period. I say I know. “It means you also know that you have to be very careful with men now, right?” she asks. “ Y e s, ” I w h is p e r. “ T h a t’ s g o o d ,” s h e s a y s. And for Angelina, the conversation is over. She doesn’t like to speak about men to my sisters and me. I accept that and don’t ask any further questions. I feel very happy when she offers to give me one of her sanitary pads. She only has a few left and I can only have one for the day. Angelina can’t help me with money to buy new ones.” Extract from the book title “Fiehluna’s journey” by FiehlunaAssungwa
This is the sad reality among others for majority of girls in Cameroon who see their period for the first time. 80% of these girls are not always psychologically prepared for the changes about to take place in their bodies as they grow and so everything takes them by surprise. I remember discussing with a certain lady by name Brenda who shared her experience the first day she saw her monthly period. This lady said that she went to take her bath and realized her underwear was stained and the only thing that came to her mind was that probably she had been poisoned and that was why blood was coming out of her private part. So she left the bathroom running almost half naked and screaming “Somebody help me I am dying, I have been poisoned” and that was how her neighbor came to her and counseled her on what she had to do, making her understand that if she is experiencing this blood flow, it is because she is now a grown up lady and has nothing to do with poison.
If Brenda’s story sounds funny, it is just a reflection of the mindset of most Cameroonians. What they do not understand they quickly link it to superstition.
Back to FiehlunaAssungwa’s book, Fiehluna`s Journey she evoked the communication barrier that exists between parents and their girl children when it comes to topics like menstruation. Angelina who played the mother figure only told her she needed to be careful now with men but did not explain how she was go about it.
Due to the damaging taboo surrounding menstruation in Cameroon, many girls struggle monthly to manage their periods. The lack of access to sanitary pads has forced most young girls to use unhygienic cloth and often skip school during their periods. It should be noted that in Cameroon the price of a sanitary pad is 600frs equivalent to Fiehluna in this her book recounts how she had to make her own sanitary pad because she was unable to afford a new one. Here is an extract from the book “I’ll just do like Felicita does and use toilet paper. She has some left but not that much. I’ll use it. I have no money to buy a toilet roll or a sanitary pad, so I go to Father with a heavy heart to ask for money. “Hello Father,” I say in a shy voice. I can see already that 103 coming to him for money was a bad idea. “What?” he asks, and looks at me surprised at the interruption. He is curious. But I can’t say anything when he looks at me sharply with his twisted eyebrows. “So, what exactly do you want?” Now his voice sounds strict and commanding. “Nothing, nothing at all,” I say, and without time for him to ask again, I walk out rapidly. He probably watches me walk away and shakes his head before he turns back to what he was doing. Happily, he doesn’t call me back and insist on an explanation. I think really hard about what to do, and I get an idea. There are some girls in my school who use pieces of cloth in the place of a sanitary pad. I get up and look for my old bed sheet that I saw a few days ago. Angelina said then that I should throw it away. It was very old and torn. I kept it! As soon as I find it, I tear it and make my sanitary pad out of it. It feels funny but still better than nothing ‘’
These unorthodox means of protection during menstrual cycles can put the lady’s health in jeopardy causing things like infections and mental health. According to a study conducted by Africa-UN Women in Cameroon, the difficulties encountered by women during their menstruation have a considerable impact on their daily lives: 31% (one in three women) do not continue their occupation and activities during their period; the activities most likely affected by the menstruation period are mainly domestic and household activities (43.8%), commercial (36.3%) and education/school (29.7%). Also, the research showed that the types of toilets used by women did not always guarantee their privacy and safety and did not allow proper management of menstrual hygiene.
Menstruation and social life
This time of menstruation to some girls not to say all is a time of embarrassment. Most of them do not to socialize. In the school milieu some girls will prefer to remain seated the whole day and not go anywhere for fear of being mocked at by other students in case their uniforms has been stained. Even at the level of some communities and cultures it is believed that a woman who is on her period does not have to cook certain meals or even carry out certain activities for fear of “spoiling” the food.
For girls who are able to afford the sanitary pad they see it as a taboo going to get the pad from the nearby shop because of the way the shop keeper looks at them especially when he is a man.
During this period some girls will not play even with their female folks and become very reserved.
Contributions for non-governmental organizations. The nightmare of women during menstruation is a call for concern. From lack of sanitary pads, to embarrassments, to stigmatizations, the difficulties they encounter are just enormous.
Reasons why so many Non-Governmental Organizations have come up with different ways to reach out to these women and young girls through donations of under wears and sanitary napkins to educative and sensitization talks to help them have confidence in themselves during such periods.
The Moonshine Foundation is working hard towards putting a smile on the faces of these young. There are plans in the future to donate sanitary pads and also help to establish some of these young girls who do not have any source of income to be independent.
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Fiehluna Assungwa
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