Lack of sanitary towels beset Masaiti girls
Published On June 12, 2021 » 1431 Views» By Times Reporter » Features
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• Masaiti Primary School pupils narrate challenges of missing lessons due to lack of sanitary towels . Picture by STEPHANIE KUNDA.

By CHRISTABEL CHIWILA
LACK of access to sanitary towels among school-going girls makes it difficult for them to get educated.
This invariably affects the role that woman play in society.
Many girls fail to get educated because of an array of challenges like early marriages, limited access to sanitary towels and the long distance that many of them have to walk in order to get to school.
Challenges of keeping a girl in school remains a topical issue because more girls miss class on account of lacking sanitary towels or being married off at a tender age.
These challenges have made parents and teachers in Masaiti district concerned at the high number of girls who are dropping out of school.
“The rate at which young girls are being married off is worrying and it needs quick action,” a Kitwe educationist who spoke on condition of anonymity said.
Other teachers said there is need to talk about issues of early marriage among school-going children and how to keep the girls in school.
“It is worrying to see a girl with a very bright future choose marriage over school all because she does not have the necessary things to keep her in school,” said one teacher at a school in Mpongwe district.
Early marriage is a problem which most traditional leaders have been fighting to address.
For instance, Senior Chief Chiwala of Masaiti district has been penalising parents found marring off their daughters.
One teacher further said young girls between ages of 14 and 16 are being married off.
Many cases of early marriage still go unreported and most culprits, especially in rural communities, are ignorant about the legal implications of such vices.
Marble Kambole, a mother of six children who lives in Mujale Village in Chief Chiwala’s area, said her 14-year-old niece stopped school and got married to a 21-year-old man.
The matter was reported to the police and the girl was arrested.
She was later released, but after some time, she went back to the same man.
It has become difficult to keep girls in school because most of them come from poor families and as a result, the see early marriage as the only way out of poverty.
A teacher at Masaiti Primary School said there is need to encourage young girls to stay in school.
But the teacher said it is not easy to convince the girls to remain in school.
The teacher said some girls threaten to commit suicide when they are told not to get married at a younger age.
The teacher said there is need to make such girls to understand that education is very important and that they need to stay in school.
Some people talked to said the high number of girls who get married is very worrying.
Most of them feel that there is need for stakeholders to work together in fighting the problem.
“Children in rural areas have no motivation to stay in school and as soon as they become of age, they resort to get married at a very tender age,” one man who did not want to be named said.
The man said efforts should be put in place to ensure that all girls in schools have access to sanitary towels.
Some pupils from Chikumbi, Lulendo and Masaiti primary schools in Ndola district said staying in school has become unbearable because they are forced to miss lessons when they are on their monthly periods.
They said it is safe to stay home during periods when they have no sanitary towels.
The author of this story visited a number of schools and villages in
Ndola rural where some pupils said marriage is an easy way out due to the fact they cannot afford to buy the necessary requirements to stay in school.
The pupils, who said it is not easy to stay in school, appealed to various stakeholders and the Government to ensure that girls are helped to remain in school in order for them to become responsible members of society in future.
Maggie Kunda, 14, a Grade Seven pupil at Masaiti Primary School in Chitulika Village, said she needed to be comfortable when attending her periods.
“Mostly, I have stomach cramps and lack of sanitary towels forces me to miss school for three to five days,” Maggie said.
Maggie said she lives with her grandmother who cannot afford to buy the sanitary towels because they were just too expensive.
“I stay away from school because I feel I can stain my uniform and people will laugh at me, so the best way is to stay at home until I’m done with the menses,” she said.
Maggie said it is not easy for her to catch up with the other pupils when she misses some lessons.
Catharine Mfula, 13, a Grade Eight pupil of Maria Chimona Settlement in Ndola rural, said it is unheard off to talk about periods because it is considered as a secret which one should keep to oneself.
Catherine said she lives with her parents and whenever she starts her periods, she keeps it a secret from family members.
“I hide my monthly condition from my family members and friends and I use any cloth available for me during periods,” she said.
Other girls from Chikumbi and Lulendo primary schools said it is a challenge to attend lessons when they are experiencing their monthly periods.
The girls appealed to well wishers to help them with free sanitary towels so that they do not skip lessons.
Masaiti Primary School Guidance Teacher Mwiinga Hagasente said programmes to keep girls in schools should be funded.
Mr Hagasente said it is important to fund such programmes because young girls are a mirror of society.
He said at times, the school tries to help the girls but it is not enough.
He said more needs to be done by everyone, including the stakeholders.
“You know this is a rural area and once a girl is on her periods, she loses so much blood and it is just important that she takes some milk, but most of these girls come from homes that are not economically sound,” he said
However, Mr Hagasente said the schools are doing everything in their power to support the wellbeing of girls.
He said what is needed is for the schools to work together with other stakeholders to help facilitate the support that will help to keep girls in school.
Ensuring that girls attend lessons even when they are on their periods must be promoted and encouraged.

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