Beautiful blood stigma of a strong woman

I was 13years old in the year 2004 when i lost my mother and had my first period the following month. It was a Wednesday morning in the month of April 2004, when i realized my pant was wet yet i did understand was was happening to me. Suddenly the teacher asked a question and i stood up to answer. Immediately, i could here my class mates whispering from my back, but i didn't understand what it was. Then, i heared a big boy in class shouting blood, blood, blood. And then everyone was looking at  me.  Then i checked my self and realised the blood was actually coming out of my Virginia. I felt so   embarrassed and immediately sat down crying. My teacher helped to calm the situation and later took me to the staff room to educate me and gave me a pad. 

When I got home, i was so afraid to tell any one what had happened. Owing to the fact that i was living with my auntie. I immediately took my old clothes, cut them up and pad my self.  The next day i deed Same and my auntie subsequently found out one day when i washed my underwares and sun them and she realized some kind of Stains on them and questioned me why my pants were that brownish at the under. I then had the courage to explained what had happened to me. She later educated me on menstrual hygiene and gave me toilet roll to use. That was the best she could afford. She didn't have money to buy me a pad. So i use toilet rolls till i was 16years old. I started developing some kind of waist and stomach pains with very dark and clothed periods. She later took me to a near by quarter clinic and she was advice not to let me use toilet rolls to hold my flow. I then resulted to cutting my clothes and using them during  my flow and that continued for years untill one day i realized that i had no More clothes to cut. Because the only clothes i had left, were the once i use to wear at home or to wear to church. Thank God for the help of good neighbors who helped me with menstrual pads. I continued like that till I started raising money on my own through hucking of grandnuts at the Mbengwi road moto park, which i used to support my school fees and take care of my self.

This is why today, am now an Engineer and am standing up with vulnerable girls and women in ending period poverty.

I have started a community education campaign to end period poverty, through education on menstrual hygien and donation of menstrual kits to over 6000 girls since 2021 to 2023. I also organize community empowerment projects for women and girls on soap making and detergent making. This helps to creat start ups for women and girls in raising income for livelihood support.

Also, if women are educated more on menstruation and how to manage thier flow, the stigma and myths related to menstrual will be completed eradicated.

For this year 2023, I am organizing a menstrual hygiene program titled End Period Poverty scheduled to take place on the 27th of may 2023 in Tole village, which is a vulnerable community characterised by internally displaced persons, who have lost thier first hand care givers as a result of the ongoing sociopolitical crises in my country, we're we shall be donating menstrual kits to 120 vulnerable girls and women. 

I belive, we are stronger together if we help one another.

If we unit to empower women, with divers skills, poverty will be eradicate and period poverty will reduce and this action will help reduce juvenile delinquency and prevent subsequent reproductive issues that may occur as a result of using the wrong menstrual products. There menstrual products are necessities not  luxuries to every girl child.