Girls using polythene papers as pads get help

About 250 girls in Buyala Village, Budondo Sub-county in Jinja North Division, Jinja City, have received free sanitary towels following a Monitor story that highlighted their plight.

The Monitor last month published a story showing how young girls in the area were using polythene bags and sand during their menstruation periods, putting their health at risk.

One of the girls in the story said whenever she went in her periods, she packed soil in polythene bags, which she wrapped in a cloth after imprinting small holes to absorb the blood.

At the weekend, staff from Grant Thornton, an audit firm based in Kampala, delivered free sanitary pads to the girls in Jinja City.

Ms Sharon Babirye, one of the company staff, said they were touched by the plight of the girls in Buyala Village when they read the story and decided to mobilise resources for the purchase of sanitary pads.

Justification

“We felt the need as a company to rescue the girls to after reading the story of girls using soil. We have managed to bring some and also taken them through how to use and keep them neat in order not to get infected,” Ms Babirye said.

The reusable pads are five pieces in different colours that can be used for one year as long as the user keeps them clean.

Ms Babirye noted that they will bring more sanitary pads to serve the Budondo community.  Ms Krupali Haria from the advisory department at Grand Thornton Company, said they carry out various corporate social responsibility activities in rural communities, and noted that there is still a need to support the girls in the community.

A Senior One girl, who benefitted from the pads, who said they have been using soil, banana fibre, and pieces of mattresses during their menstruation period.

Another Primary Seven girl (name withheld) said they suffered infections as a result of using unhygienic pads and hailed the company for the free donations.

Sanitary pads in the markets cost between Shs3,000 and Shs5,000, depending on the quality.

Ms Aminah Tamugeania, the secretary for Mwino Sports Development and a peer educator in schools in Budondo, said there is a need to sensitise parents to stop attaching cultural beliefs to menstruation periods.

Ms Tamugeania said girls in the villages are traumatised during their periods as some are isolated from the rest of the  community members.