Nkanghe Sonita Gohla's mentrual period experience: a motivation to help other young girls

ALL PARENTS HAVE A CRUCIAL ROLE TO PLAY IN THEIR DAUGHTERS LIFE WITH REGARDS TO MENSTRUATION. MOTHER'S AREN'T SUPPOSE TO DO THIS ALONE.

WE DIDN'T CHOOSE TO BE WOMEN AND YES, MENSES AS MADE US ONE. SO WE CAN'T BE REJECTED COS WE ARE SPECIAL CREATURES WITH SPECIAL DUTIES.

                    Nkanghe Sonita Gohla

I was just 14years old when i came back from school, went to the toilet to ease myself and found out my pant was bloody. Had no idea of what was going, and had never heard of anything about menses. All i could do was throw the pant in the toilet and go for a new one while i add toilet tissue to observe if it will repeat itself. I thought of panicking but had to stay calm cos I've always loved to be addressed a strong girl. So i went back to the living room, sat calmly and waited on dad to come back home and when i told him what had happened on his return as well as my action, he laughed at me and went out again. Confused and worried, I found more reasons to be scared and worried. 15mins later, he returned with a black nylon and a pack in it. He explained there and then that I'm now a woman and I'm going to experience that every month till i get old and the sanitary pad he got is what I'm going to be using. He taught me there and then how to use it and sent me to go put it on, warning me never to use any other thing. So when mom was back, i told her all that had happened and she went for cloths to give me cos that's how she was brought up, using cloths. I was then confused and she said she doesn't want me to get use to sanitary pads meanwhile my dad won't provide regularly and of course she wasn't fit to provide that for me, talk less of my two kid sisters who were to join me in the journey later on. 

I followed dad's instructions cos he was a nurse and I knew he was most concerned about health, but the first sanitary pad package he gave was all and the next session, he couldn't give me another. So mom stepped in with reusable pieces of cloth and I wasn't taught how to carter for them as well, so after each use, I will discard and go for the next. When she noticed and tried scolding me about it, dad stepped in and was angry she made me go through that, being unable to afford for good sanitary pad. She wasn't to be blamed cos she wasn't as learned as him and that's how she was brought up. So he sorted getting more sanitary pads for me and making sure i used them properly. 

When my mates heard my dad was the one following me up for my menstrual flow, I became the laughing stock of my quarter, school and environment where they were found simply because it is believed that mothers are the ones responsible in handling that in their daughter's life and father was never to be aware of that aspect. So that was a myth and had to engulf and walk around with the stigma in my society. When i discussed with my dad about it, he made me understand that all parents are to be involved in that aspect of a girl's life so she can be able to make right decisions about herself and life. So I had to stand more bold to my peers with regards to the aspect of their mockery towards me and they finally gave up. 

With my experience, I started being more interested in the female gender and especially teenagers as i grew up. So was active in a church group called 3H girls where only girls of all ages till adulthood are educated socially, spiritually, health wise to be better versions of themselves as they grow up. I finished my secondary education and went in to nursing where more knowledge was gained on health. 

Starting up with my nursing carrier after education exposed me to women's health and from there, i took up the burden to reach out to many girls with regards to menstruation, bridging the myths and stigma and making sure they express themselves freely. Most targets for now are churches and I have been having access to girls' gatherings where i educate on menstrual hygiene as well as self breast examination. It becomes interesting seeing young teenagers being inquisitive and being able to verbally express themselves with challenges they face and stories they hear. 

I intend amplifying my strategies reaching out to girls and of course partnering with many more organisations having same goals, thereby reaching to many more girls, bridging the gap  with regards to myths, stigma and menstrual poverty so as to ensure menstruation becomes a normal part of life by 2030. 

I'm living beyond the stigma.

I'm living beyond the myths. 

I'm living beyond period poverty.

I'm walking in a menstruation normalcy life.