SUSTAINABLE FEMININE HYGENE PRACTICE IN NIGERIA

Africa Smart Initiative for Her

75 Lagos Road (First floor), Ikorodu,

Lagos State, Nigeria.

Africasmartinitiative4her@gmail.com

+2347083761951, +2347032615501, 08168593459

Overview

Africa Smart Initiative for Her (ASI4Her) is a grassroots not-for-profit organization in rural Nigeria dedicated to health and empowerment initiatives for young women. In 2019 our focus is on creating a sustainable evergreen project supplying young women with information about feminine and personal hygiene, and useful hygiene products.

Goals

• To advocate for, provide knowledge of feminine and personal hygiene through Public Lectures (PL), Community Outreach (CO), Peer to Peer Interaction and Learning (P2PIL) and Focus Group Discussion (FGD), stressing the use and advantage of using quality health materials.

• The provision of free menstruation sanitary products to women and girls in rural and remote Nigeria

Fig. 1. Our Approach

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Background

Nigeria is Located at the extreme inner corner of the Gulf of Guinea on the west coast of Africa.

Fig. 2. Map of Africa showing Nigeria

Nigeria’s population according to the country meter February 2018.

Nigeria’s population according to the country meter February 2018 is 195,419,219.

Nigeria is blessed with mineral resources and arable land, but has its challenges in the health sector.

Gender inequality is an everyday problem faced in Nigeria. Catering for the health needs of women is very low depriving a lot of women basic health requirements.

Africa Smart Initiative for her has taken the initiative to safeguard and cater for an area mostly affecting woman and girl’s health; menstruation.

In Africa, particularly in Nigeria, menstruation is considered a taboo and shrouded in silence in some ethnic groups, where young girls and women face harsh social taboos and negative social norms.

Worst still, many have little or no access to water, toilets and feminine hygiene products.

According to WATER AID NIGERIA reported by DR. MICHEAL OJO, nearly seven in ten women in Nigeria have no access to a safe toilet, threatening their health and exposing them to shame, fear and even violence.

A lot of women and girls in our society feel their menstrual cycle is something to be ashamed of and accept the many negative beliefs and barbaric perceptions that exist on the issue.

Cultural myth and belief about menstruation perpetrated by society often portrays women and girls as inferior to men and boys. The gender inequalities often constitute

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discrimination and a negative impact on the fulfillment of the universal human rights to dignity, health and education of women and girls.

Africa Smart Initiative for Her recently carried out a needs assessment on menstrual hygiene management and awareness in Kano, Oyo, Edo, Osun and Lagos state in Nigeria. A total number of 250 girls and women were interviewed. 72 young men were also interviewed and they told us what they knew about menstruation and how they have been handling it with their wives, daughters and sisters. Community leaders were not left out in our need assessment. The community leaders also told us the effort they have made to provide a conducive health environment for their women.

Fig. 3. Map of Nigeria showing some states we carried out need assessment.

The sole aim of the assessment was to explore and understand existing menstrual hygiene management practice and how our project can help better their situation and enhance further improvement in their hygiene management.

The research revealed a deeply rooted attitude and myths surrounding menstruation including the belief that a menstruating woman or girl is cursed and possessed by evil spirit and brings bad luck to her family. Such beliefs result in restrictions being placed on girls and women during menstruation including exclusion from attending religious services, sleeping on the same bed with their spouse, cooking and even holding their infant.

DR. MICHEAL OJO of WATER AID NIGERIA, said “The study revealed that in some part of West Africa, women and girls are not allowed to use water sources and latrines during menstruation, the very facilities they need the most during this time”.

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Fig. 4 Toilet and bathroom used in a rural community in Lagos Nigeria

UNESCO (GOOD POLICY AND PRACTICE IN HEALTH EDUCATION Booklet 9 published in 2014) estimates that one in ten girls miss school during their menstruation and eventually drops out due to shame and fear.

During our community outreach programs, more than half of the girls interviewed said that they only learned about their menstruation after their first experience and half of them use rags to serve as sanitary napkin or pad because they have no access to menstrual hygiene product.

Fig. 5. Public lecture by ASI4Her in Majidun community

When we talk about menstrual hygiene management, its goes beyond just providing sanitary pads to women and girls, it’s really about helping young girls and the people around them, the men in their lives, father, brothers, husbands, to have the right awareness and the knowledge around menstruation and menstrual cycle. It’s also about helping young girls and women to have the confidence to manage their hygiene safely, with pride and dignity and also ensure that provisions made available for them to manage their menstrual period safely and hygienically and for products to be readily available for collection and disposed of effectively.

CHALLENGES OF WOMEN’S HEALTH IN NIGERIA

One of the major health challenges women face mostly in the rural Nigeria is sexual and reproductive problems. Poor feminine hygiene leads to infections and improper management of those infections leads to sexual and reproductive diseases.

In 2008 the World Health Organization (WHO) sponsored research carried out by Umeora OUJ, Egwuatu VE on menstrual practice in the eastern part of Nigeria. For this

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research one thousand, six hundred and ninety-two questionnaires were analyzed. The age of the respondents ranged from 17 years to 56 years, with a mean age of 32.2 years. The respondents made it clear that “Our mothers, grandmothers and even those before them use cloths during their periods and they never had any problems. These (sanitary) pads that ‘oyibo’ (White race) has brought is the cause of many problems women have today as they do not allow (menstrual) blood to come out freely and bring out all the disease” (erroneous thinking).

The nature of cloths used range from old cloths, towels, rags and occasionally new ones. In most instances, they were washed after use and dried in hidden corners of the compound and reused, this practice is common among other rural part of Nigeria.

Traditional restrictions during menstruation impact negatively on womanhood by effectively assaulting the women psychologically, debasing their self-image and self-esteem, precipitating a feeling of shame and undermining the physiological significance of the phenomenon. (Kanani 1994, McPherson 1994, Garg 2001).

Most of the women and girls in rural part of Nigeria are still living with dysfunctional ancient beliefs as regards their menstrual hygiene and this is affecting them badly though they claim is normal to have vaginal infection. With the help of this project, we will educated and inform women and girls about the dangers ahead if they continue using reusable rags, and of the need to abolish the old ways of menstrual mismanagement and embracing the use of sanitary pad for quality menstrual health.

The percentage of women and men is illustrated in the figure below as estimated by Country meters February 2018 (countrymeters.info).

Male – 50.6%

Female –49.4% Fig.6. Percentage distribution of the population by sex.

Vaginal infections that are not well managed and treated may be a serious threat to a woman’s life. According to W.H.O, “cervical cancer is the second most common type of cancer in women worldwide, with all cases linked to a sexually transmitted genital infection with human papillomavirus (HPV). Due to poor access to screening and treatment service, more than 90% of deaths occur in women living in low- and middle- income countries” like Nigeria.

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Team

Our team comprises of a group of vibrant youths who saw a need to give the girls a voice to defend themselves, speak boldly and freely about their monthly period as some of the team members has also faced the barbaric tradition of seclusion earlier in their lives. Below is a brief resume of our team members;

SCOTT IKPORO:

Scott Ikporo is a consultant, a certified life coach and a graduate of Hult International Business School, He was head of research and information at DHTL Capital management LTD. He was also the trade development manager at Seven-Up Bottling Co. Plc. He is currently a managing partner at INLAND ROYAL CONSULTING LTD. He is the consultant and M&E support.

DR. ALIU SURAJ

A Certified medical practitioner, an Educationist (MBBS, PGDE, NIM, RMDS, SPSS, and MIAD), currently working with the Department of surgery in Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. He is the Medical officer supporting ASI4HER.

TIJANI LAWAL ABDULLAHI:

He holds a BSC in computer science, is a certified Project Manager and a child protection expert with enviable demonstrated leadership and managerial skills in volunteering work and community service with over 5 years experience. He was M&E (Monitoring and Evaluation) team lead for VSO-Nigeria evaluating VSO project in Osun state. He was also a relationship manager for VSO-Nigeria in Lagos state managing stakeholders/community expectations and resources. He is the team lead.

ENGR TECH. ZUBAIDA JIMOH

A certified mechanical Engineering Technologist who has passion for voluntary services in under-developed communities. She is currently working as a lighting design Engineer with Mikano International limited. She is the people and operations manager.

LAWAL BILIKIS

She is a certified community health worker currently working with Bashma Medical Clinic in Zaria, Kaduna State Nigeria. She holds a diploma in community health and has demonstrated her love and passion for girl’s health. She is an assistant medical officer.

VALERIE ELLIS

A trainer, counselor and business manager in Australia assisting the project as communications advisor.

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These results-driven individuals with excellent track records in their previous and current jobs are committed to this project because they are interested in seeing an Africa where women and girls are free from prejudice and preventable health problems, living the kind of a free and empowered life that women and girls enjoy in more developed parts of the world.

VISION & MISSION

Vision:

An inclusive world where every girl child understands menstruation and has access to quality feminine and personal hygiene products.

Tracy, 11 years old, lives in Kano state in the northern part of Nigeria. Tracy is the first daughter of the family. She was in junior secondary school when she saw her first menstruation. It was a beautiful Tuesday morning during lecture when she noticed that her school uniform and her chair were soaked with blood. She was ignorant of what it was and her classmates all laughed at her. Tracy ran out of the class and went straight home to meet her mother with tears rolling from her eyes and she screamed before she got inside the house “mama” I got injured on my butt” her mom dashed out of their apartment only to realize that her daughter is on her monthly period, there was no prior knowledge to prepare her ahead of time. Her mother supported her to stop the flow with rags and toilet roll because that was the best they could afford. The shame was too much for Tracy to bear so she decides to stay away from school for three weeks and she missed a lot which affected her academic performance that term.

With the intervention of ASI4Her, every girl in Nigeria can understand menstruation. Young women and girls will be supported to be aware and discuss their monthly period freely as they will be lectured by professionals who will lead them through the process from start to finish with some practical examples so no girl will be scared or ashamed to talk about menstruation anymore and they will be capable in handling their monthly period.

ASI4Her believes that if good health and childbirth can be celebrated then menstruation should be too.

Mission:

To educate girls on how to achieve feminine and personal hygiene including skill acquisition sections. Methods used to include Volunteering (V), Public Lectures (PL), Community Outreach (CO), Peer to Peer Interaction and Learning (P2PIL) and Focus Group Discussion (FGD).

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I. Plan Part 1

RECRUITMENT/ TRAINING:

HR team will carry out the recruitment process of three types;

• Peer Educators

• Volunteers

• Management Staff

Training: the above recruited set of people shall undergo training on how to carry out their various duties to ensure a successful project.

Roles: Peer educators will train and directly support girls through the P2PIL approach of the project.

Volunteers will be essential because they live in and know communities and serve basic communications and administration functions. Management staffs will plan, coordinate, and maintain the objectives of the project.

Fig.7. Recruitment chat

II. Plan Part 2

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT:

Stakeholder engagement will be carried out by our management team. Before entering a community in Nigeria, we need to meet with community leaders to ensure full support is given and also to ensure security throughout the project. Below are the stages for stakeholder engagement;

Community entering / Stakeholders mapping: Locate and identify the host communities within each state. Discuss with the community leaders to be sure they are in support of the project, if they are not try to make them understand the need for the project and benefit it will attract to their community. Risk access the community to be sure that is safe for volunteers and staffs to come in and work.

Community mapping: Map the way the community is connected and also locate where the most marginalized are living. Identify the potential primary actors and benefactor of the project. Also identify a location that is best for meeting

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Orientation: Orientate stakeholder, community leaders and the community at large about the project and include them in our plans for the community.

Fig. 8. Stakeholder engagement

III. Plan Part 3

BASELINE SURVEY/CAMPAIGN IMPLEMENTATION

Baseline Survey and data collection of the community: Survey to collect data and analyze to understand the current practice of the community as regards to the project.

To know how the women and girls in the community are currently coping with menstrual hygiene, this approach will make us understand them and how they react to things so we know how to best to explain our concept to them.

Run a launch concert: bringing the different community in a state together to launch the project to their communities.

Knowledge dissemination /product sharing: To ensure that knowledge is shared across all communities through CO, P2PIL, PL and FGD. We will also leverage on the local TV channels and radio stations to create awareness and a need for quality feminine hygiene. We will also be supporting our host community and neighboring communities with some feminine hygiene product.

Fig. 9 Baseline survey & campaign implementation

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IV. Plan Part 4

ENDLINE SURVEY AND EVALUATION

Our M&E Team with SCOTT IKPORO as the team lead will collect data and analyze them to evaluate the project impacts in the various communities with a well detailed report and a knowledge product for future reference.

Fig. 10. Project summary

Your Help

We need support from well-funded supporters, donors, partners and sponsors who share our vision of a happy, healthy Nigeria for girls and women. The common-place acceptance of reproductive knowledge, rights and resources enjoyed in more developed nations is something we will like to share with our sisters in Nigeria. We would like you to help us shape culture in Africa by funding our team of staff to work on our 2019 project full-time. The resources for which we require funding are;

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2019 BUDGET ANALYSES FOR ASI4Her PROJECT

We commit to helping each girl for a whole year so she can rely on us. Your donation of 60USD will supply that girl with all her sanitary needs for a whole year- we’ll take care of the materials she needs, getting them to your girl, and teaching her about having a healthy body.

Kindly check below for details

COST OF SUPPLIES FOR 400 GIRLS FOR A YEAR 

S/N  DESCRIPTION 

QUANTITY (sanitary pads)  DURATION PRICE (USD) 

YEARLY TOTAL (USD)  NOTE 

1  One girl  3 supplies  per month  5       

2  One girl  36 supplies  per annum  60  60 

estimated cost of supply of sanitary pad for a girl fo a 

year 

3  two girls  6 supplies  per month  10       

4  two girls  72 supplies  per annum  120  120 

estimated cost of supply of sanitary pad for two girls for 

a year 

   180 Total cost of pad for three girls for a year 

5  400 girls  400 supplies  per month  2,000       

6  400 girls  400 supplies  per annum  24,000  24,000    

GRAND TOTAL FOR 2,666 GIRLS FOR A YEAR   24,000 Total cost of pad for 400 girls for a year 

Fig.11. Help Channel

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Future

You may wish to follow our journey towards our long term goal as we hope to create girls club across schools in Nigeria and Africa at large, so that they can be able to discuss and proffer solutions to their menstrual challenges.

We also plan to provide water supply and toilets to public schools to enable young girls maintain their menstrual hygiene during school hours.

We hope to acquire the means to manufacture sanitary products (“pads”) for women, and to provide women with employment in this operation.

Join us on

Facebook: http//facebook.com/asi4her,

Twitter: @asi4her

Instagram: @asi4her

You can also reach us by mail at africasmartinitiative4her@gmail.com

APENDIX

PROPOSED TRAINING FOR STAFFS AND VOLUNTEERS

• Child protection training.

• Leadership and management.

• Different culture and tradition of the propose host community.

• Advocacy training.

• Scope and objective of the project.