In a bid to commemorate this year’s World Menstrual hygiene Day, the ministry if gender and health of the University of The Gambia will be having a symposium at the beach about menstrual Hygiene, it will also involve fun activities and talks on different other sustainable sanitary materials that people are apprehensive to, especially in this part of the world.
There will also be a bake sale to raise funds to purchase menstrual pads along with other sanitary materials that will be used by students of the university the Gambia, across all faculties. The pad drive was established last year and we hope to get more pads along with other sustainable sanitary materials for all the female students in the University.
The rationale for the Pad Drive Initiative is premised on the melancholic realities on ground; given that menstruation is a naturally-endowed phenomenon that every physiologically and anatomically sound girl, starting from puberty, will experience, yet we have observed with concern the challenges that continue to becloud female students during the course of their menstruation.
Most of the associated challenges, regardless that menstruation is a natural phenomenon, are due to the expensive prices levied on sanitary pads, the stigma and misconceptions associated with menstruation and the absence of analgesics for the effective management of menstrual pain, among others.
WIth this event we hope to the promotion of the educational goals of women and girls in the UTG, in a healthy and hygienic atmosphere, by easing their burdens and making sure that by 2030, menstruation will be made a normal fact of life.