A blessing in disguise?

 A blessing or a curse?

I think all women can agree that having your period is far from it being sunshine and roses. It is a dreadful pain and awful discomfort. Mood swings, abdominal cramps, bloating, and cravings. You name it! Yes, there's a lot you can hate about your period. It truly does take you on one heck of an emotional rollercoaster! Some women describe the pain of period cramps as a blender that slowly rips their insides. Definitely not a pleasing experience at all! Why would anyone then see this as a blessing? 

Well, dear women, look at it this way, while you are all cramped up and aching, your reproductive system is flushing out the old blood, excess iron, and unnecessary materials. Protecting you from harmful build-up. Experiencing breast pain during this time? This is just your body preparing for a potential pregnancy. Isn't that just beautiful? Yes, the beauty of new life. On the note of pregnancy... You need to have your period in order for you to be able to build your very own family one day. Pro tip: whenever you feel like you just had enough of all the pain, immediately think of your future children in that exact moment. 

 Doctors have said that period pain is equivalent to that of a heart attack. This just shows how strong women truly are. We show up to work and school no matter the pain or discomfort. True superwomen! 

At the end of your period is a blessing and uniquely given to you!It is there to help you, not to hurt you. Be kind to your body and yourself💖😉

Destigmatise Menstruation

How often can you have a conversation with someone about menstruation without it getting weird? Ever been too shy to ask another female for menstruation products?

 You see in the world that we live in, menstruation is not seen as normal. Several taboos are spread about menstruation. It is important to educate our boys about this topic. This will teach them to respect women and have great admiration for them. It will stop the spread of taboos, misconceptions, and discrimination against menstruation. This 11-year-old boy will have to care for the mother of his children one day. It is best to teach them about this topic at a young age to normalise it so that they can care for their sisters and friends as well. Girls need to know that it is a part of their health and not something to be ashamed of. They have to treat it as normal as possible. Being ashamed of it may lead to girls neglecting their hygiene during this time, which often leads to tract infections. 

  Our government may play a role by developing teacher capacity in the area of teaching teachers at schools how to manage menstrual hygiene. Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) standards in schools and programming should include ongoing menstruation hygiene management. In high schools, manuals, and sanitary napkins must be supplied. Local production of sanitary napkins can help rural women's employment. Health education curricula should include menstrual hygiene management in schools across the nation.

What do you think of these ideas? Feel free to share them in the comment section, while you are at it share some of the taboos that you have heard about menstruation!

 

 

 

 

 

Power to Namibians

Menstrual Poverty is real. It might not be happening to the Superiors, the ones in charge of this country, the ones who are rolling in money, but the less fortunate sadly do go through it. It takes a sympathetic heart to see the need of fellow citizens and to help where you can. It is a sight for sore eyes to see how our people reach out to others in need. The gap in the number of girls missing school because of menstruation seems to be narrowing as more people establish foundations as well as join other established organizations which help where they can in reducing Menstrual poverty.

Shaun Gariseb is the founder of End Poverty and Africa Connection. This foundation bloomed from a seed of his growing up in the poor Katutura area, where he witnessed poverty firsthand. Interestingly enough this foundation molds young boys into men by teaching them to care for girls through drama. This foundation aims to create a healthy and safe environment for all girls. the foundation introduced sewing classes to make sanitary pads for girls.

Eco-sanitary Pads is a local business that joined the market around March 2019 with a mission of making high-quality and affordable pads. Naomi Kefas, the managing director of the business, and her team visited China, South Africa, India, and Kenya and so they did proper research that took them 2 years to complete and so "Perfect Fit" was born.

Our Government may fail us time after time but in our ambitious Namibians, we can trust. Reading the stories of people who build organisations from scratch,with the little that they have to help others in need, is really heartwarming and inspiring. May this inspire other Namibians as well to give a helping hand where needed? It can only go up from here!

photo by: Namibia Daily News.