Breaking the Silence

Ayan I •  Kenya •  26

Coming from a Somali culture, this topic seems to be sensitive and something not to be discussed. When I was 13 years old, aside from the formal education, I was studying the Islamic education too. With this, we had a group of young girls whom were age mates. My mates started missing Madrasa classes on a monthly basis and I ended up being curious about it. But no one wanted to share to us that they have reached puberty because they feared to be judged by fellow peers. Almost all of my peers got to the age of puberty and this thing really disturbed me all the time. I wondered on what was wrong with me. My niece began her period way earlier than me. My family members were happy and the news was shared amongst themselves. Having this conversations with my elder sisters, the menstruation process seemed to be fun.

When I got my first period I was able to share with my big sister. Unfortunately my mom was not around that day but later she got to know.

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That is when we had a real talk between me and my mom. She advised me on things that might bring me harm as I have now become a woman. She told me I should not play around with men or boys since they are likely to get me pregnant and gave me details on how. She also took me through the menstrual hygiene process very keenly. My mom prepared me for the world.

After my primary school, I joined my secondary school and managed to get my University Degree later. I have been working with girls for a period of time in my community in the Northern part of Kenya, but our process in breaking the silence on menstruation is really not that easy since the targeted group has a perception that indeed the beautiful blood is a shameful thing that needs no one’s attention. Unfortunately our community of women are affected by infectious bacteria on their private parts in that it causes some irritation for the women due to poor hygiene management of the private part.

In this journey, we have brought men on board from the community so that at least we can kill the unnecessary shyness or ignorance on the matter. It starts with the mind. In summary, we hope that every girl on earth gets the message that it is by the Grace of the Creator to go through menstruation every month.

Lunch Period

L D •  California •  13

Before I start you should know that I was dreading when my period would come, being a tomboyish sport playing girl that hates puberty. And also that currently none of my close friends had theirs. Despite all of that I was well educated on periods. Also I should note that one of my two best friends at school had an eating disorder at the time, so was missing every day at lunch and recess, and wasn't in my afternoon classes..

The night before I went to the bathroom and some some light pink red on the toilet paper, and in my head knew what it was, but since I was dreading my period I decided that there was NO way that could be my period and basically ignored. I went to bed as usual and did nothing about it.

The next morning, January 16 2019, which also happened to be my 12 1/2 birthday I got up and went about my normal morning. When I went the the bathroom I purposefully avoided looking at the toilet paper, so I had no clue if there was blood on it or my underwear. The rest of the morning was normal, except for the fact that my other best friend was sick that day. At lunch I was supposed to have science club, so I went to that teachers room and waited like 5 min before remembering that science club got canceled that day.

Next, partly because my underwear and legs felt somewhat wet and sticky I went to the bathroom. I was worried it was my period so I brought the little bag my mom forced me to keep in my backpack, which contained a few pads and a spare pair of underwear, and went into a stall. The bathroom I was in was completely empty because it was lunch and everyone was in the cafe, thankfully. When I look down at my navy underwear and tan brown pants I discover one of my worst fears, I had gotten my period. But even worse, my underwear, the inside of my pants, and my legs were covered in blood.

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I spent a good ten minutes in the stall. First I had to switch the extra pair of underwear that I luckily had on hand. Then I had to clean my legs and, luckily only the inside of, my pants to the best of my ability. Then finally I put on a pad. When I finally left the bathroom about half of lunch had gone by and I still hadn't eaten my lunch yet.

Now coming back to the fact that neither of my best friends was around that lunch. I had promised my best friends that we would all tell each other when we got our periods. This lunch would have been the perfect time to tell them, except for the fact that neither of them was at lunch. So when I got to the cafe half way through lunch I sat at a pretty full mixed gender table with a bunch of class mates that were sort good friends. No one even mentioned the fact that I was 15 min late to lunch.

I felt very alone. I'm usually a loud or talkative person at lunch. I said nearly nothing that lunch. I almost felt like crying. I never cry in front of others, but I hated the fact that I got my period, and so many emotions were running through me at once. I felt so awkward alone and betrayed by my best friends, even though it wasn't their fault that they weren't there for me. I also felt betrayed by the friends I ended up eating with, because none of them noticed that something was up with me.

I went through the rest of the day somewhat normally. I felt more normal in my classes the farther from lunch I got. When school finally ended that day my mom picked me up in her car. I was super embarrassed to tell her so I spent most of the car ride trying to build up the courage to tell her that I got my period. When the 35 min car ride home was almost over I finally blurted out "I got my period today" before I lost the courage to say it.

Pretty soon after that my mom had gotten me a tracking app and told my dad. When I came home from school the next day there was a gift sitting on the kitchen counter. I was confused as to what it was. When I looked closely I was quite annoyed, my parents decided to get me a "congrats on getting your period" gift. I opened it up and found the LEGO space station. That was one of the Lego sets I was interested in so that was ok, if you ignore the reason.

Thank you for reading to the end of this. I have never shared my story before and it felt so good to get off my chest. I hope this story will help you to know that you are not alone and convince you to support your friends the way I wish mine could have for me. One final note, don't be afraid to share your story, even anonymously it feels good to share.

A Day of Stomach Aches

Lana K •  Slovenia •  14

It happened when I was in sixth grade on a Wednesday morning. My stomach really hurt and when I sat on the toilet, I had blood all over my underwear. I was scared for a second so I called my mom and asked her what to do.

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She explained that it was normal but i was still a little embarrassed. I had school so I needed to go but I remember I had 2 tests and my stomach was hurting all day so it was a crappy day.