‘I slept like a baby the first day I used a sanitary pad’
Hajara
bursts out of the crowd of women and ran briskly to her house down the
middle of the Village. Almost with the speed of light, she rejoined her
fellow women in the group she left a short while proudly holding her
sanitary pad to the admiration of all.
Though some of the women smiled at her with envy, others were
genuinely happy and proud of one of their own privileged to discard
their age long practice and embrace the modern technique of managing
menstrual period.
For the benefit of our readers, Hajara’s action was only to prove a
point to this writer who had gathered the women from Wadai Village, one
of the remote villages from Nguru Local Government in Yobe State and
inquired to know if any of them ever saw a sanitary pad.
Quite frankly, the challenges the rural women in Nigeria faced in
managing their menstrual circle and the age long practices of using
rags, leafs and in some cases sand-powder is appallingly unacceptable.
Recently, the Executive Director Complete Care Foundation, Barr.
Aisha Wakil popularly known as Mama Boko Haram has also given her voice
against the despicable practices and the conditions of the women and the
need to address the issue.
Bar. Wakil through her NGO has embarked on hygiene promotion and
education of women IDPs in Borno State at the Displaced Peoples Camps to
achieve this noble objective. The story is however changing with
serious outputs translating to significant impacts in many rural
communities in northern Nigeria.
Bar. Wakil, during an advocacy visit to Emir of Kano, Alhaji Lamido
Sanusi, said: “One of the effects of insurgency is that women and girls
are using sand and ashes in place of sanitary pad for their menses and
this is unhygienic and unhealthy for women and girls.
“Menstrual pad is a luxury for poor women in Borno. Strange as it may
sound but poor women and girls in community and IDP camps are still
using rags filled with sand, or ashes as an alternative for sanitary
napkins during their menstrual period, thus exposing themselves more to
vaginal infections,” Mama Boko Haram said.
The story of Hajara and some other rural women in Yobe communities is
just a tip of the iceberg of one of the success stories of the impact
the hygiene promotion campaign UNICEF has carried out in some rural
communities in the State.
Narrating her encounter with the new hygiene and health practices,
the 41yr old housewife of seven children said she no longer have issues
of itching and infections around her private part since she started
using the modern sanitary pad.
Hajara recalled the first day she used a modern sanitary pad. Her
story is merely a graphic picture of what many rural women have faced
for years which she succinctly described as years of darkness and
ignorance.
At 40, Hajara she has battled with leafs, rags soaked with ashes
powder to manage her menses until five years ago when she was introduced
to the world of a modern sanitary pad.
“Sometimes you never understood you are in the dark until light
shines on you. For us, using leafs, rags and sand was the only thing we
knew in the past. Sometimes we don’t use anything at all. We were
careless about our health without any serious consideration until UNICEF
opened our eyes. We are in the light now. With the use of the pad, you
even forget that you are menstruating. I first day I used this(pointing
to the sanitary pad in her left hand), I slept like a new born baby that
has just been breast fed by his mother, Hajara recalled.
Hajara says her husband supports her from time to time in providing the pad anytime she could not afford to get one.
“My husband normally gets it for me from time to time when he goes to
the market. I am so grateful for the support he has been giving to me,”
she disclosed.
Explaining on how she was able to win her husband’s heart in
accepting the practice, Hajara said, “I think my husband understands
that if I am well, it will be beneficial to him and our entire household
as well. The same thing if I am not healthy it will affect him too. I
convinced him to understand the importance of the use of the pad after
we were educated by the UNICEF people and he accepted it with his whole
heart,” she said.
Ari’am Modu is 25 years with three children. She has embraced new
hygiene practices brought to the local community. Her testimony though
not reflected on one of her children in her arms as flies feast on his
unkempt nose flowing with cough. She however admitted that she has
imbibed the culture of bathing and oiling her children not less than
three times in a day, as well as avoiding to dress them with dirty
clothes.
Haruna Maigari is the village head of Wadai. According to him his
community has seen the wisdom to embrace the new hygiene and health
practices brought to them by UNICEF, just as they have given every
support to women in the community to learn and accept everything they
are been taught.
The women in the community get all the support needed for the healthy development of their community,” Maigari said.
Hajiya Hauwa Liman is a thorn in the flesh of rural women in Bulturi
Village, another remote settlement in Nguru Local Government Area. The
sight of Hauwa Liman always send cold shivers in the spines of the women
especially those that failed in their duties to keep their houses
clean.
Hauwa Liman is a Community Hygiene Promoter whose Job title is to
ensure the cleanliness of the women and the entire community. For her
to deliver in her mandate, she was trained by UNICEF officials on
hygiene and sanitation. I was eager to meet her as the boys ran to
inform her of my visit. Curiously, my expectations were met as Hauwa
appeared from the north-eastern corner of the village dressed in her
clean red hijab and walked towards me as we exchanged warm pleasantries.
Narrating her story not difficult to her at all. She informed me that
the job has earned her respect and enemies in the early period she
began but all that has changed.
“It was really a big challenge when we first started but Alhamidilah
we have over-come some of the problems. From the beginning it was
difficult for the women to embrace the changes. Some even see me as a
nuisance to them but I kept on pushing and never relented. I am happy
that today, I can proudly say that most of the women in Bulturi if not
all understand the importance of keeping their environment clean, taking
care of their children, taking care of their personal hygiene. It is
truly rewarding for us as a community,” Hajiya Hauwa informed.
According to Hauwa, her job has been made easier because of the
cooperation she enjoys from her fellow women who have quickly adapted to
the hygiene practices of the training they have acquired from UNICEF
officials.
One of the women from the community, Zainabu confirms that the fear of Hauwa is the acceptance of basic hygiene practice.
Every woman in the community knows her with what she does. If Hauwa
comes visiting in your house and your children are dirty, your name is
sorry. She will make sure that you do the right thing. Some women go
into hiding on the sight of Hauwa,” Zainabu informed.
Falmata Maigari, is the wife of the Village Head of Bulturi Village.
Together with Hauwa, the duo have stood firm to ensure that the women in
the village keep to the new hygiene practices brought by UNICEF in
their community.
“We are the custodians of this community. The children are ours. We
have to put in our best to make sure they are healthy. I never knew
before but these people (apparently referring to UNICEF) people have
come to open our eyes so we are now healthier than we use to be. Many
families here no longer go to the hospital because of the way we take
care of our children and ourselves now”, she explained.
As the wife of the village head, Falmata told me that together with
Hauwa, they have formed a formidable team to make sure those women that
comply with better hygiene practices are rewarded though not with money
but praises while the less performing ones are encouraged to do more.
“We make sure that women that take care of their households are
commended while those that are found wanting are encouraged to step up
their game.
Huawa go from house to house to teach the women about
basic hygiene practices like: hand-washing with soap and water after
using the toilet, before eating, how to take care of your body,
keeping your environment clean inside and outside.
We have realized that our personal cleanliness is very important if
not people will get bad things in their food that will cause illness.
Since we started this, all the small small sickness has vanished among
us. Nothing like cholera in our communities again, ” Falmata explained.
In an encounter with the Chairman of Nguru Local Government, Hon.
Alhaji Ali Maidami , he was short of words to express his gratitude with
the manner that UNICEF has transformed rural communities to become even
more free from diseases than in the urban areas.
According to him, “the structures put in place for the sustenance of
the projects is what excites me. Most of the structures that UNICEF has
put in all the projects and program executed in our rural communities
have very solid sustainable plans. This is because they have trained our
rural people in the management of the projects. This will help us to
build on that even after they must have left. Our joy to UNICEF and our
Governor Ibrahim Geidam is immeasurable.
“Our rural communities are now living a heathier life than people
living in urban areas. Most of the communities in my local government
have been declared free from open defecation courtesy of the work
carried out by UNICEF. This is quite commendable,” Maidami said.
Senior Local Government Facilitator UNICEF-WSSSRP for Nguru Local
Government, Lawan Mohammed informed that the baseline survey for hygiene
and sanitation for Nguru and Bade was very low but shot up after the
intervention from UNICEF.
It was not easy getting the people to accept and observe these
basic hygiene practices. We kept on pushing and gradually we have come
to this point. In Nguru LGA, we are working in 144 communities and 75 of
them have been declared Open defecation Free (ODF). In Bade, out of
132, 63 are ODF,” Lawan informed.
