Lilongwe based Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Young and Brilliant (YAB) has drilled 177 girls in menstrual hygiene management at Chileka community in an effort to clear misconceptions towards menstruation.
The Organization which started its operations in 2018 is teaching girls and women issues regarding menstrual hygiene for their welfare and to ensure smooth running of their activities.
A Founding Member for the Organization, Ruth Mughogho told Malawi News Agency (Mana) on Monday in Lilongwe that apart from having education and career guidance programmes with youth in Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSSs), the NGO is currently focusing on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM).
“We conduct workshops on MHM with the sole purpose of debunking misconceptions around menstruation and to help mothers and girls become comfortable to talk about menstruation.
“We believe that the more women and girls get comfortable and openly talk about menstruation, the easier it is to discuss issues surrounding it and offer the appropriate solutions,” she said.
The Organization targets to have youth which are economically empowered, communities which are aware of human rights, concerned by issues surrounding human rights and are capable of standing up for human rights.
Sisters Faith and Tiyamike Chingira, form 2 students at the school explained how they never use pads because they had misconceptions that pads cause cervical cancer.
The Students said they were delighted to see a man in the team stand up and talk with them regarding menstruation which seems odd in our society to openly talk about.
The Team is working on capacity building for mother groups in the community and they plan on bringing a gynecologist who can explain to mothers about sanitary pads and cervical cancer and clear other misconceptions regarding menstruation.