TO YOU...

To every girl in the world…

Dear girl, I know as a child you had dreams… every child dream, but one thing we never dreamt about was a life full of challenges, that because we were just children Growing older we became captives to our own selves. These dreams faded because of the natural course our bodies had to take. When nature dawned on us, we realized that the dreams we had as kids were just dream… As we experience changes in our lives, the pressure grows higher with every passing second… soon, our dreams are completely gone and what we are left with is  what we see. We don’t want days to pass by fast anymore because we don’t want to go through the trauma of periods. We don’t want to imagine ourselves in our own blood, we don’t want to imagine ourselves twitching in pain, and we don’t want to imagine ourselves in the discomfort that comes with menstruation. In our African society, some of us do not have the means to get our basic sanitary pads, some of us have resorted into early sexual debut just to be able to get our sanitary towels, some of us have to go through discrimination at home because we are bleeding,  we have been considered ‘Unclean’ in our own homes and in the society, some of us have to stop school for those days because we can’t handle our periods, some of us are avoided because we stink, some of us shy from the society because of our painful  experiences due to menstruation… this is the ugly truth about it all… this is our reality…

To every woman in the world…

We are women, we are mother, we have gone through menstruation and we are still menstruating, some of us have had bad experiences, some of us have been privileged to go through this with all the comfort… but should our girls also suffer what we suffered in our day? Do they not deserve the privileges we had and still have? Will we really want to watch our girls’ dreams remain just dreams because of a situation which can be handled? Will we withhold vital information from our girls because we are shy of talking about menstruation to our girls? Will we allow our girls to the mercy of their friends who also have minimal knowledge about menstruation? Will we allow our precious daughter, our prides to the mercy of men who will take advantage of their vulnerability? 

To all men and boys…

We are your daughters and sisters. We are your seeds and siblings. we did not chose to be girls, we did not chose to menstruate, it’s not in our power to control nature, it’s not a crime to menstruate, menstruation is not unclean, it is not a sacrilege to be among you when menstruating, instead of taking advantage of our vulnerability, help us out because we need all the help we can get. We are not just girls, but future mothers who will continue with your generation. We don’t have to stay out of school when we are menstruating because of the comments and mockery our brothers will make. We are not supposed to be embarrassed by our own brothers when we get stained. We are not supposed to be socially excluded from the rest of the society because we bleed…

And to all humanity…

Menstruation is a woman’s pride and not a crime, menstruation is not a choice but is a chance to prove that we are women. Menstruation should not stop us from making our dreams a reality. Let us all join hands in teacher our girls how to take care of themselves when they are menstruating, let’s all join hands in our little ways to provide these girls with the sanitary pads they need. The little you contribute can change the life of someone. Let us help these girls embrace menstruation with comfort. No one should be left out… men, women, boys and girls, we all have a role to play in menstrual hygiene. Let us help these girls keep clean.