Latifa: ‘I stand up for girls’ right to education’ 

Latifa is a project participant of Dorcas Tanzania.  

Latifa: ‘In our society, girls are isolated during their menstrual period. Many girls do not even have access to sanitary pads and instead have to use pieces of cloth, which are not hygienic. Like many girls in my community, I struggled to attend school when I had a period, and that was not good for my education. 

However, things changed for me when people from Dorcas came to our school. They taught us about safe menstruation and gave us sanitary pads. They also talked with parents, and now our fathers are starting to have a more positive attitude towards the issue of menstruation. 

I think that girls should have the same access to education as boys. Menstruation must not prevent us from attending school, and all girls should be able to obtain sanitary pads and menstruate safely. These are major issues in our society that I want to stand up for when I grow up. 

I hope that one day, our society will become better educated about menstruation and that girls will no longer be isolated and miss school because they have a period.’

Menstrual Hygiene Management Programme 

Dorcas Tanzania works to break the taboo around female menstruation and improve gender equality in northeast Tanzania. We have provided menstrual hygiene products and safer facilities at 75 schools and raised awareness about menstruation issues in 50 villages in the region. 

This programme ensures families with a low-income gain access to affordable and reusable sanitary pads, and it boosts the confidence of girls and women in rural areas. Girls’ school attendance has improved, resulting in more girls completing their education. We also work with teachers to raise awareness about the menstrual cycle and how to combat the stigma associated with this, and we help young girls become role models in menstrual hygiene. 

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘢𝘴’ 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘯. 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦. Human Rights: Contributing to a just society – Dorcas

18 January 2024