Our Stories
The places we visited, the people we meet. These are our stories…
This is teacher “Sedric” at St. Mary’s secondary school, Mbale, Uganda. He thanks MSO for their sustained efforts in teaching girls in his school how to manage their hygiene during periods and providing a hygiene pack to the girls every month through their Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) programs. During his classes in the mixed school, he has observed the embarrassment when a girl stands to answer questions only to observe that her skirt is stained with blood. And whenever the girl would go out to clean up herself, she would not come back to class because of shame. He thanks Mustard Seed Organization for teaching them how to understand that their period is a human right and nothing to be ashamed of. Now they have learned how to take care of themselves during menstruation, and in the past several months, he has seen a big change in the girls’ confidence in themselves and around male students.
Namutosi is a young student in St Mary’s secondary school, Mbale, Uganda. In interviewing her, she said she did not know how to be hygienic during her periods. She would change her pad without cleaning herself properly with water and soap. And after using her locally made pad she would just throw it away. She thanks MSO for bringing the MHM program to her school. She now understands how to manage her menstruations hygienically and has a chance of growing up to be a healthy woman and mother in the future. She is confident with this knowledge to teach proper hygiene to her children and other girls. She now understands how poor management of her menstrual process can cause certain complications in her life.
In talking to Zaina, she said that no one or organization had ever come up to speak such words about how to clean herself during menstruation. She said that whenever she would be in her periods, she would stay home in bed and out of school because she was not comfortable with what she was using during her periods, and she also lacked s confidence. She also did not know how to hygienically dispose of her used material, which always made her feel ashamed. She thanks MSO for coming out to educate and help the girls believe in themselves during their periods and make them feel confident. She also appreciates all the support and hygiene packs MSO gives her and other students every month. Now she also encourages and advises her friends. In her words, “I kind of feel secure, powerful and strong now”, “I feel sad for many other girls who need such support but have not yet received it”
