By Asenath Were
“Friendship improves happiness and abates misery by doubling our joy and diving into our grief.” Joseph Addison.
Gerald Emmanuel Abura, president of the para-counsellor association pursuing a bachelor of social works and social administration, is one such friend. After a female classmate was humiliated for staining her skirt, he came up with the ‘Pad a Girl’ initiative to tackle such situations for the poor girls who cannot afford to buy sanitary towels.
“What brought me as a gentleman into the idea of carrying out this campaign is that it leaves a friend in my school who came from a poor background and could not afford to buy pads for herself; it was quite challenging for her to get pads each and every month.” Abura said.
Abura narrates that this one day, his friend gets up from her seat, and her skirt is stained. He was in shock when her fellow girls were the ones that started laughing at her, yet they were supposedly the ones to help her. His friend dropped out of school, and from then on, he vowed he would help a girl when he got the opportunity.
‘Pad a Girl’ is an initiative that helps financially capped girls stay in school after they start their menstrual periods by providing for them and teaching them how to make reusable sanitary towels.
Irene Nabwire Ojambo, the head of the Para Counselling Association, pointed out that ‘pad a girl’ is a way of reaching out to people, and they work at achieving emotional stability. “We are trying to fight the stigma related to menstruation.” She said.
“We visit a school every semester and not only give the menstrual package but also talk about menstrual health, respond to questions, and help them understand that they are now mature enough to have children; hence, they must be careful.” Nabwire said.
This is made possible by students of Uganda Christian University (UCU) who feel the need to help a girl is limited because of menstrual stigma. This is mainly done through donations of pads and financial contributions to the cause.
Abura pointed out that in 2023, the ‘Pad a Girl’ initiative team from UCU visited Buikwe High School, Makonge Mixed Primary School, and St. Matia Mulumba Ssebawali Primary School. 1000 girls and 35 female teachers benefited from this visit.
Abura says that his plan for this year in regards to ‘pad a girl’ is already in place: “We look at going to the Karamoja region, and this time, we are targeting 2000 girls, and the campaign is already going on; people are contributing the little they have.” He remarked.
Victoria Nantambi, former UCU health minister for the 25th Guild government who was also part of the team that went to Buikwe, said that her highlight of the ‘pad a girl’ initiative is being able to teach young girls about menstrual hygiene so that they know how to stay clean during those days.
Nantambi pointed out that it is satisfactory to talk to both genders and let them know that it is a normal thing for girls to menstruate, which reduces stigma among the students. “Hearing the girls experiences about their first menstruation and who helped them was amazing; it was nice to know that some mothers help their girls in such moments.” She said
Zipporah Faith Asiimwe, a journalism, media, and communication student but also a para counsellor, says she is happy they were able to put a smile on the girls’ faces because, according to her, while they were talking to the girls in Buikwe Secondary School, she realised that most of them do not have a mother figure to help them out.
“They did not have knowledge about what they were actually supposed to do; some of them even learned it by seeing their friends.” Zipporah commented.
