Malawi Girl Guides Association (MAGGA) has said the use menstrual hygiene cups helps girls to remain in school.
Speaking during the menstrual mentor training at Lifidzi Teachers Development Centre (TDC), the Association’s Project Officer for Menstrual hygiene management (MCM), Alinafe Mahimanya said the intervention was aimed at making sure that girls have good sanitary materials that they can use when menstruating.
Mahimanya said the introduction of menstrual cups to girls both in school and those out of school was one of the activities that were being undertaken under the United Nation’s Joint Programme on Girls Education Project (JPGE) taking place in the district which is being supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) through Norwegian government.
She said the intervention would help to keep young girls in school saying their research has shown that many girls abstain from attending classes when they are menstruating, a development described as a setback in the promotion of girls education in the district.”
“Through a research that we conducted, it was found out that many of the girls do abstain from classes when they are menstruating due to poor sanitary materials that they use,” Mahimanya said.
According to Mahimanya, after the training, the mentors would be working with young girls training them on how to use the menstrual cups on pilot phase where each mentor is supposed to work with 25 girls from Lifidzi and Katelera zones in the district.
One of the mentors, Apatsa Sadala form Katelera zone said the training was important as it would help them bail out girls from menstrual pressures that they encounter during menstruation period.
She said the menstrual cups would help the young girls save time and money as compared to menstrual pads which they have to buy every month or have them sewn by themselves.
A trainer for menstrual cups,KhumbolithuKayira,said the intervention is an improved way of making menstruation for girls safer and more private.
“You can use the cups for a longer period of time because one cup can last you for ten years which is very economical unlike pads which you have to buy every month.”
“This will help the young girls that menstruate heavily to concentrate on their studies and perform well at school because a cup is very safer to use and easy to clean,” she said.
MAGGA is piloting the menstrual cup intervention in two zones of Lifidzi and Katelera in Salima with support from UNFPA through Norwergian government.
