A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Empower Her Period, has inaugurated an initiative to educate teenage girls on menstrual hygiene and teach them how to produce reusable sanitary pads.
The initiative is aimed at addressing the rising cost of sanitary pads, which has become a financial challenge for some families in Suleja, Niger, making it difficult to provide teenage girls with adequate menstrual hygiene products.
The initiative, founded by Zainab Dauda, seeks to equip girls with practical skills to manage menstruation safely, reduce dependence on disposable sanitary products and promote confidence in discussing menstrual health.
Dauda told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday that the initiative began with sanitary pad distribution but later evolved into producing reusable alternatives after identifying challenges girls faced in accessing menstrual hygiene products.
“We started by distributing sanitary pads, but later discovered that some girls could not afford them. We conducted research and produced our first batch of reusable pads.
“However, we discovered that the pads leaked after about four hours, so we worked on improving them,” she said.
Dauda said the initiative was funded through support from other NGOs and private individuals, adding that inadequate funding remained a major challenge to expanding the programme and reaching more beneficiaries.
She appealed to the government to support the organisation to enable it to extend the initiative beyond Suleja and provide more girls with menstrual hygiene education and reusable sanitary products.
As part of the programme, an Islamic scholar, Mrs Fatima Hassan, educated the girls on menstruation and explained the proper procedures for performing ritual bathing after their menstrual periods.
Similarly, Dr Mansir Isma’il emphasised the importance of maintaining personal hygiene during menstruation to prevent infections and other reproductive health complications.
He advised the girls to observe proper hygiene practices and seek medical attention whenever they experienced unusual symptoms during menstruation.
Isma’il also discussed foods that could form part of a balanced diet during menstruation, including dark chocolate and cashew nuts, which he said could help some girls manage menstrual discomfort.
A parent, Hassiya Mohammad, expressed satisfaction with the initiative, saying the rising cost of sanitary pads sometimes made it difficult for parents to provide adequate menstrual hygiene products for their daughters.
“Sometimes, it becomes difficult to afford sanitary pads for our children, and we resort to giving them pieces of cloth to use,” she said.
Mohammad said the programme had also educated parents on menstrual hygiene, noting that some lacked adequate knowledge to guide their daughters through the experience.
She appealed to the government to support the initiative, describing menstrual hygiene education as important to the health and well-being of teenage girls.
Mohammad commended the organisers for providing participants with practical knowledge to help them manage their periods more safely and confidently.
Hamida Ibrahim, a representative of the organisation, said teaching girls to produce reusable sanitary pads could help them manage menstruation and provide skills that might become a source of income in the future.
Ibrahim said the programme also sought to equip teenage girls with the knowledge and confidence to manage menstruation, challenge stigma and discuss menstrual health without embarrassment.
She said reusable sanitary pads offered an alternative to disposable products while promoting practical skills that could support the girls’ personal development and independence.
One of the participants, Zulaihat Abubakar, said the training had increased her knowledge of menstrual hygiene and taught her practical ways to make reusable sanitary pads.
She expressed hope that the knowledge gained would help her manage her periods more effectively and enable her to share the information with other girls in her community.
Another participant, Maryam Suleman, said the programme had helped her understand the importance of personal hygiene during menstruation and the need to use reusable sanitary pads properly.
NAN reports that the initiative aims to promote menstrual hygiene awareness, reduce stigma surrounding menstruation and empower teenage girls with practical skills to manage their periods safely and confidently.
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