-as First Lady’s Menstrual Hygiene Initiative reaches Region Six

FIRST Lady, Arya Ali, has taken her flagship project, the Menstrual Hygiene Initiative, to Region Six where a total of 4,276 school girls will each benefit from a year’s supply of free sanitary napkins.

The initiative aims to bring an end to period poverty in Guyana.

Addressing adolescent girls and regional officials at the Skeldon Line Path Secondary School at a simple launch on Friday morning, she highlighted that she was heartbroken when she found out girls were forced to drop out of school in Guyana because they did not have sanitary pads to use during menstruation.

She noted that worldwide 800 million girls miss school for more than a week every month because of period poverty and so her aim is to fix problem here.

“You girls are future nurses, doctors, policewomen, lawyers and teachers. You are the future leaders of this country and at no point of your life should you be forced between having an education or staying home because you don’t have access to sanitary pads. Of that 800 million girls missing school because of period poverty, after today not one should be from Guyana… This is more than the government providing sanitary pads to you, this is about empowerment,” she said.

The First Lady emphasised that the time has come to shatter taboo about menstruation. She said conversations about periods and women’s health should be had at anytime and anywhere and should be done unapologetically.

The initiative is made possible by donors and through fund rising activities executed by the Office of the First Lady. The sanitary pads for Friday’s launch were donated by overseas-based Guyanese, Anter Narine, who is a Berbician by birth.

Narine said thinking about the little girls across Guyana who do not have access to sanitary pads and how it is preventing them from attending school, socialising and preventing them from having a normal life, hits close to home.
Noting that he was raised in a single parent household, he recalled that while growing up, small and seemingly insignificant acts of kindness made a huge impact on his life and education.

He said it is for this reason that he is proud to be part of this initiative that will significantly impact the lives of girls across Berbice and in other parts of Guyana.

“Despite living overseas, Berbice remains my home and as they say, charity begins at home, so I offer resources to support an initiative which will help thousands of girls in the region.

As a man I am not ashamed to advocate for the rights of women and support efforts that will seek to empower them and [I] take the lead to encourage other men to facilitate conversations about women’s health. Menstrual hygiene should not be a taboo subject and because it is, we need to redouble our efforts to ensure that girls and women feel comfortable to talk about their health,” he said.

Meanwhile, the region’s Regional Education Officer (REO), Bhagmattie La Cruz, in her remarks, said the initiative is a “quiet explosion” in empowering females.

“Our First Lady has a vision, a vision for women and when we empower, we empower the nation. Overtime the issue of [a] girl’s period has been taboo, not a conversation that is generally encouraged and as such there is a lot of silent suffering. We have seen the effects of lack of
empowerment.

Girls who don’t have the necessary sanitary pads and other hygiene products are not able to go to school at this time of the month; that is just one factor. Not having support in this area, suffer[ing] embarrassment and personal shame because they are not able to deal
with it since they cannot speak about this issue openly,” she said.

La Cruz emphasised the significance of the project.
“We are striving in our way and this is exceedingly significant. This initiative shows that you (the First Lady) understand what it means to support girls… This is empowerment!” she added.

Regional Chairman, David Armogan, who was also in attendance, commended and welcomed the initiative to Berbice.