As many of you will already know this September Samantha and I set out on our biggest challenge to date – to run 2,350km along the Freedom Trail in South Africa www.freedomrunners.org
The reason for the run is to raise awareness and funds for the set up of a social business in South Africa that will employ a dozen South African women to make re-usable sanitary pads with the goal of keeping the girls in education. 1 in 3 South African girls once they reach puberty miss out on 4/5 days of school per month because they cannot afford to buy sanitary pads, instead they stay at home and use anything from old rags and newspapers – in-fact anything they can get their hands on, eventually dropping out of school altogether. We are collaborating with Save the Children who will oversee the project and educate on subjects such as Puberty, Menstruation, Safe Sex and HIV.
Talking about “periods” is one of those subjects that is very taboo and generally gets skirted around because it’s way to embarrassing to discuss – it shouldn’t be embarrassing, it’s something that happens to every single female; from the age of about 11 onwards it’s part of our lives until we reach the menopause in our 50’s – approximately 40 years of our lives!
I thought I would tell you my story so perhaps some of the men out there will understand what it can be like for us and how it can make us feel.
At the age of 8.5 I was sent to boarding school as my father was in the armed forces so we lived abroad, I absolutely loved it, who wouldn’t you always had people around to have fun with and support you when needed.
I was always one of the tallest in my year group and my body began developing quite early. One night when I was about 10 years old I woke up in the middle of the night with the most excruciating pain in my stomach, I thought all my insides were going to pop out and I was going to die. Whatever position I got myself into nothing worked and the pain got worse and worse until eventually it was so painful I huddled up in a ball and rocked backwards and forwards until eventually falling asleep.
The next morning I woke up feeling fine, the pain in my stomach had gone and I remember it was a wonderful day outside so I leapt out of bed to look out of the window. One of the other girls in my dorm told me that my nightdress was covered in blood and when I looked round I couldn’t believe what I saw – even though my mother had sat me down and discussed what would happen when my periods started and how I would feel I still felt shocked at what I saw, it was as though someone had been murdered with the amount of blood – THEN I looked at my bed which was even worse.
We had always been told by our housemistress that when our periods started we were to go to her and she would sort us out with sanitary pads (in those days they were really bulky and held up by an elasticated belt). I made my way downstairs and told her what had happened expecting an understanding response but instead I was given a brown paper bag consisting of these awful sanitary pads and told that I had to wash my bedding and nightdress before I was allowed breakfast and before going to school – there was no asking how I felt, go and have a bath a hug nothing. Walking back to my dorm to wash my clothes and bedding was like the walk of shame, I hated my body for making me having to do this, I thought everyone was looking at me disgusted with what they saw and I certainly didn’t want to go to school wearing those awful bulky pads – what happened if they leaked, how often should I change them, what was I to do during games, swimming – Oh my goodness this was awful.
I managed to wash my bedding etc and get to school in time but without breakfast. The rest of the day was spent feeling extremely self conscious, worrying about anything showing and when it came to getting ready for games I just wanted to disappear into a hole, I wanted my body to go back to normal, but unfortunately for me this was now “normal”.
I’m sure this isn’t a typical story but I just wanted to illustrate what it feels like. My mother was fantastic in telling me what would happen to my body and I always knew I could ask her questions and with my own daughters I made sure that they understood what would happen to them – although they are taught about “the facts of life” at school I feel it’s important to discuss it with your daughters (and sons!) so that they have the correct facts, not information picked up in the playground and it also opens up the opportunity for discussion if something is worrying them.
If I felt like that, imagine how the girls in South Africa must feel having NO sanitary pads simply because they are unable to afford them and in many cases may not even understand what is happening to their bodies, I can’t even begin to know how they feel. Even if they do manage to go to school many of the schools in the rural areas don’t have water or toilets that are lockable so no privacy. 60% of women/girls in South Africa DO NOT have access to normal feminine hygiene products – 60%.
Please help Samantha and I raise the money to set up the social enterprise business in order to provide these girls with re-usable sanitary pads to enable them remain in education. We all take it for granted that we can pop down the road and buy whatever we need, THEY CAN’T.
“A good education empowers young women to shape their own futures”
If you would like to support us you can do so by going to: http://www.pozible.com/project/183111#description
Thank you.
