Menstruation Day Celebrated in Mt Hampden
By Lloyd Mwale in Mt Hampden
A belated Menstruation Hygiene Day was celebrated recently in MashWest province with calls for a period friendly world.
Menstruation Hygiene Day is commemorated annually on 28 May, and this year’s commemoration was running under the theme “Together for a #PeriodFriendlyWorld”. The commemorations were done in conjunction with raising awareness against Drugs and Substance Abuse amongst young people. The day saw girls and young women converging at Mt Hampden, a non-formal settlement along the Harare-Chirundu Highway for a day-long event to receive free pads and being capacitated on menstrual hygiene.
The Mt Hampden event, dubbed “Health Services Fair” saw the event organisers, Mwanasikana Wanhasi partnering with a number of health services providers imparting basic health information and services to Zvimba East residents.
In an interview Opportunity Makanga from Mwanasikana Wanhasi said that the Post Menstruation Day celebration was to commemorate the Menstruation Day and to raise awareness on challenges being faced by women and young women during the menstruation period.
“Girls and young women face many problems during their menstruation period to the extent of some young women missing school lessons yet the government calls for education for all there are young girld missing school due to ‘period poverty’ meaning there is lack of basic menstruation hygiene and materials for young women and girls such as pads, tampons, period cups and general lack of potable water, said Makanga.
“So as Mwanasikana Wanhasi our call is that no girl or young woman is to be denied her rights due to a natural occurrence. We are committed to alleviate these problems being faced by women during the menstruation period. As today’s fair has other partners, this is a call to our male counterparts to come to our aid because we need them.
“This Post Menstruation Day celebrations has brought HIV and STI testing and treatment, family planning services, voluntary male circumcision, and drugs and substance abuse awareness,” said Makanga.
Sabhuku Christopher Gandari,a Zvimba Village Head who represented Chief Zvimba, hailed the event for coming at the most opportune time.
“We welcome what Mwanasikana Wanhasi has brought to us. We have been taught many basic health issues and Zvimba East is wiser than before. Our girls and young women have recieve pads free of charge and other Mwanasikana Wanhasi partners have also provided basic health services,” said Sabhuku Gandari.
Mt Hampden Residents Trust Chairperson, Petros Kasiya also halied the SRHR Health Expo.
“Today’s event organised by Mwanasikana Wanhasi is a very good programme because it has capacitated some of our residents, mostly women and young women on menstrual hygiene and how to dispose of pads after use. It has also brought other basic health knowledge to us in that residents have been tested for HIV, STI, Male circumcision and family planning all for free,” said Mt Hampden Residents Trust chairperson Kasiya.
Tanaka Magaya a Mwanasikana Wanhasi Champion from Nyabira said that she had been capacitated on menstrual hygiene and will pass the knowledge to Nyabira for a period-friendly World.
“Today I have learnt about basic menstruation hygiene and also been tested for HIV and STI. I also recieved pads and tampons free of charge and this knowledge that I got today I will definitely pass it to other women and young women in Nyabira,” said Tanaka.
Another youth from Nyabira, Tinashe Langson echoed Tanaka’s sentiments of being capacitated in basic health issues.
“The event was welcome especially to us the youths of Zvimba East district. We have recieved basic hygiene and advice on drugs and substance abuse, we have learnt how drugs and substance abuse is bad for our health and its adverse effects to the nation, so I call on other youths to desist from abusing drugs and other substances,” said Langson.
A Mt Hampden sex worker, Tariro Kamonere, 29, welcomed the opportunity for being tested for HIV and STI free of charge.
“I am happy for the event in Mt Hampden as I got the chance to be tested for HIV and STI. This is the third time to be tested and it is very important for me to constantly know my HIV status,” said Tariro.
Population Solution for Health Enhance Peer Marketer (EPM) Sehlukile Mharadze said that Mt Hampden had taken heed to be tested for HIV and STI and they had tested scores.
“I am happy for Mt Hampden residents for turning up in numbers to be tested for HIV and STI and we have tested scores as part of our thrust of reducing new HIV infections,” said Mharadze.
Mwanasikana Wanhasi is a non-governmental private organization which champions women and young women issues and advocates for their rights in education, sexuality transformation and against early child marriages.
Gear Alliance, a SADC regional consortium is responsible for some of the products to capacitate women and young women through the Sexuality Education for Transformation (SET) programme which runs in five countries within the region and the Comprehensive Sexuality Education for Indigenous Women mainly targeting rural and marginalised women in Zimbabwe to have access to comprehensive Sexuality Education.
The Comprehensive Sexuality Education for Transformation project also target women and young women and is funded by Gender Links through Voice and Choice Southern Africa Fund.
Amplify Change is also the biggest stakeholders for women and young women programme in the country.
