By Yunus S Saliu
The Girls Pride in partnership with Fateemah’s Pad Drive and Gambia College Student Union, Friday, 11th February 2022 trained women and girls students who live in boarding schools on menstrual health and hygiene management.
Also, a kit of reusable cloth pad, 5 reusable pads and storage bag that would last for two years were given to each participant as phase 1 of the training continued.
The project known as Project Thrive involved training of women and girls in boarding schools – both conventional and madrassa, and it is funded by the Global Youth Mobilization, USA.
Commenting on the training, Fatoumatta Jabbi-Kassama, Founder and CEO of Girls’ Pride disclosed that the phase one of the Project Thrive has trained 500 women and girls on menstrual health and hygiene management.
Project Thrive, Mrs Jabbi-Kassama said it is the social impact component of Girls’ Pride and meant to train women and girls from low-income families on Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management (MHHM) and provide them with reusable cloth pads, provide capacity building training on reusable pad production,
“Our training on MHHM covers the following areas: overview of period poverty, puberty, male and female reproductive organs and their functions, menstrual cycle, menstrual calendar, ovulation and its signs and symptoms, premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and its management, sanitary products used during period: disposable and reusable sanitary products, misconception, stigmas, and taboos surrounding menstruation, menstrual disorders and their management, importance of WASH in schools and communities, harmful traditional practices affecting menstruations, the link between period poverty and gender-based violence and the importance of reusable sanitary products as sustainable ways of eradicating period poverty in Africa,” she explained further about the project.
According to her, the Project Thrive is an ongoing project, whereby the “Girls’ Pride will train more women and girls and provide healthy, eco-friendly, and reusable cloth pads for them. As we started, we intend to train more women and girls across The Gambia as we get more funds.”
However, “the training sessions were very educative and interactive. Four of our SRH trainers participated in the project implementation. The participants appreciated the trainings and reusable pads that were given to them after the trainings. As trainers, we also learned a lot from the participants,” she expressed while thanked the Global Youth Mobilization, USA for funding the project.
Some of the participants expressed delights over the training. Zainab A Conteh a participant from Farato, West Coast Region studying at the Gambia College, School of Public Health affirmed of learning new things which she had no idea about before the training, while she thanked the Girl’s Pride for exposing the students to a lot of hidden things as concerning their health management.
“The reusable cloth pads are comfortable and economic, most especially for ladies that are less privileged to get the access of sanitary pads every month,” she added.
Ramatoulie Gaye from Fass Njagga Choi in North Bank Region studying in Gambia College School of Education said the important of the training cannot be over emphasize, “I have learned so many things, one of which is how to keep myself hygiene and clean during menstruation though I have being practicing it but the training added more confident on me to know how to manage myself and be comfortable during this period and how to calculate my menstrual cycle which I found most important.”
Among other things she has learned, she said are different types of sanitary pads that can be used during menstruation and with this training she got to know about reusable pads too, “which I count as a blessing to me because it is more economical and more healthy.”
