ACCEPTING WOMANHOOD: DEMYSTIFYING MENSTRUATION

Hello sisters!

 In a typical African society, mothers hardly talk to their girls about their bodies, life, and most importantly menstruation. Every girl has their first time in life when they experience things they didn’t know about or must have heard about. I for one heard of menstruation as a fly news as we call it here.  From the age of nine, I always thought I was an introverted person and as such,h I was never friendly at school as well as at home.  I was always on my own, very thoughtful, sensitive to my surroundings, and rebellious. I felt very different and as such, I had to stay away from people. And the reason for this was just one thing – menstruation. I had my first ever menses at age of nine. At that time I had no idea what was going on in me since I have never seen it or heard of it in our home so it was devastating and frustrating for my childhood. My mum was usually out for her business in the villages around and my older sister had not experienced it yet so I didn’t know who to turn to. At that time I remember I was in class six in primary school and menstruation I thought spoiled my childhood. I couldn’t play with my mates, I  didn’t know how to manage it so each time I was on my period I leave the house every morning to my hideout and I stay there till I know schools have closed then I go home straight to my room and stayed there till the next morning and it was my routine each day till the menses stopped the third day because I thought I was strange and different. I created my whole world in my mine and till date it comes back hunting me. It was in 2007 when I enter Form One in secondary school that our then biology teacher-a man taught us openly about menstruation and how a girl can be happy and clean during menstruation but what intrigued me was that he said menstruation comes when a girl is 12 to 14 years of age then a thought came to me – what about me at 9?. I was shy to ask him because no one mention that age so I thought if I opened my mouth I will be shamed upon so I stayed quiet.  That is how I lived all my life till maturity when I began to read and research more on my ‘’illness’’. When I was 20, I understood and realised that I was not sick and though it’s a rare case and it was not a taboo neither talking about it nor sharing it with someone.   Now at 26, I have mentally accepted who I am as an individual and my unique being. I have accepted that I was not ill menstruating at 9 and as such I need to tell my daughter about menstruation and body care. I discovered that the psychological breakdown that I had as a child was because of lack of awareness and information on what menstruation is all about and that if were told, i would have told a different story from that which I am saying now. In many parts of my country right now it’s still a taboo to talk about menstruation but that won’t stop me. Even if it means blowing a trumpet for everyone to hear that it's high time we talk about menstruation like any other topic the better for us all. So that every growing up young girl and boy will be aware and learn how to manage it without fear because menstruation is part of me and you.