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According to a study by SAVE THE CHILDREN in Ethiopia girls navigate puberty without proper information ,guidance and support about the physical change they can expect. Ethiopian adolescent girls have limited access to sex education and reproductive health information and services from schools or families. The sociocultural context perpetuate an environment in which these issues remain taboo to discuss within and outside the family context.
The study also reveal that 51% of adolescent girls in Ethiopia miss between one and four days of school every month because of menses,consequently many girls are notable to stay in school after too many repeated grades and embarrassing moments.
According to UNICEF the lack of knowledge and skills for menstrual management has proven to be detrimental to sustainable enrollment of girls in schools. In Africa 1 in 10 school aged girls do not attend school during menstruation drop out of school at puberty.
The lack of absence of information and guidance both at home and in school subjugate the girls to experience their first period on their own without preparation about the onset and nature of menstruation. Many girls get surprised, confused and panic by their menstruation as it is traditionally linked to sexual activities. The unpleasant experience of their first period is further complicated by their lack use of sanitary napkins.
The project aims to create community dialogue and community space where mothers, female teachers, adolescent girls and community leaders could come together to talk about puberty, menstruation and reproductive health with the objective of demystifying and breaking the taboo preventing the discussion of these subject .
One )the project will provide school based reproductive health ,puberty and menstrual hygiene education to adolescent girls their female teachers and other school health and social support group. This extra curricular activities will be channeled through existing school clubs and will establish new ones if necessary. The project will forge linkages to brooder life skill and empowerment issues such as the risk of early marriage and teenage pregnancy.The contain of he project will be based on existing teaching materials developed by practitioners in Ethiopia like FAWE Ethiopia and or Save the Children.
Two ) the project will ensure that a g girl friendly separate and private sanitation facility with appropriate place to dispose menstrual hygiene material is provided in the selected schools.
Three) the project will introduce the girls ,their female teachers and their mothers to various menstrual hygiene products both traditional and commercial available to them.
Four ) the project will also provide girls in the selected schools with 12 pack one year supply of disposable sanitary napkins ,5 panties and 12 bar of soaps .The objective is to help the girls gain better understanding of the different menstrual blood management systems.
Fifth) the project will work actively to enlist the engagement of the communities is particularly important as the project will be challenging current gender norms surrounding the issues of puberty,menstrual period and reproductive health .
Six)The project will undertake an attitude ,knowledge and skills base survey of the girls, mothers and teachers in the selected schools. The same survey will be repeated one year later to measure the impact of the project.
The project will start as a pilot and will be scaled up based on the receptivity of the various stake holders and the ownership by the communities.
The project duration will be two years from the date of commencement.
Time and again studies have proven that an educated mother will have better health ,will give birth to a healthy child and will contribute to the economic and social wellbeing to her family, her community and her country.
The main objective of the project is to ensure the sustainability of girls enrollment in school during the critical transition from primary to secondary as they face the challenge of puberty.
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