Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | On the least 1,000 secondary faculty college students participated in a menstrual health demystification campaign that inclined expressive arts to say stigma and normalize menstruation as a natural portion of existence. The initiative, spearheaded by Reach A Hand Uganda (RAHU), a formative years-focused health rights group, leveraged edutainment below its “Undo the Taboo” and “GN Trybe” applications to fracture the silence around menstrual health in colleges.
“Edutainment helps overcome the silence and shame around menstruation and creates a actual self-discipline where novices in level of truth be at liberty to fragment, which addresses a major barrier to effective menstrual health training in Uganda,” acknowledged RAHU CEO Humphrey Nabimanya.
Held below the theme “Childhood Innovations for Sustainable Menstrual Health and Hygiene,” the occasion brought collectively college students from over 20 colleges nationwide on the London College of St. Lawrence in Maya. The gathering featured artistic showcases in poetry, kind, drama, visual art, and dance, each crafted to address menstrual health taboos in cultural and college settings.
“The Ministry is dedicated to making every faculty a actual and supportive atmosphere for all novices,” acknowledged Agnes Ssebowa, Senior Technical Officer for Adolescent and College Health on the Ministry of Health. “We mix menstrual health into training since it is a subject of human rights and dignity.”
As well to artistic performances, college students demonstrated enhancements equivalent to incinerator prototypes fabricated from biodegradable provides and cheap, reusable sanitary pads. Panel discussions addressed gaps in menstrual health administration (MHM) in colleges, in conjunction with disposal challenges, product accessibility, and restricted trainer capability.
“Talking about menstruation inclined to make us in level of truth feel ashamed,” acknowledged Luke, a student from the London College of St. Lawrence. “But this day, it felt customary.” Seeta High College A-Stage Campus emerged because the final winner of the artistic opponents and acquired UGX 3 million. London College of St. Lawrence took first runner-up with UGX 2 million, while The Academy of St. Lawrence came second runner-up, earning UGX 1 million.
In maintaining with the Auditor Usual’s 2023/24 fable, 64% of feminine college students miss faculty recurrently resulting from lack of menstrual provides and abominable Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) facilities. The linked fable found that 46% of the 48 colleges surveyed equipped no emergency pads or MHM toughen. The campaign emphasized that menstrual health is now no longer appropriate a hygiene subject nonetheless a subject of dignity, equity, and tutorial access.
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