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.
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.
