While growing up, I was taught that menstruation was a sacred issue and shouldn’t be mentioned at all. My community had a special name for it, which was “August Visitor.” I was raised by my grandmother, an elderly woman who upheld the belief about the sacredness of menstruation. As a result, I grew up not knowing what the menstrual period was.
I was at school the first day I saw my period. I was JSS 2 at the time when it started, and I couldn’t figure out what it was. I just noticed that my school uniform had been stained with blood, so I went home and changed into a fresh uniform. A few minutes after I wore my uniform, I got stained again. I couldn’t figure out what exactly was happening to me. I told my grandma, but since she believed that menstruation was too sacred to be talked about, she was too shy or ashamed to explain what was happening to me. I eventually figured out a way to take care of myself. I cut a piece of foam from our damaged chair and used it to pad myself. The piece of foam was very dirty. Sometimes, I used untidy pieces of clothes too to soak up my period. I made do with just about anything within my reach. At that point, I still didn’t know what was happening to me.
My first period finally stopped, and I was very happy, only for it to show up again the following month. I felt worried and sad and continued to manage my period with the piece of foam until I entered JSS 3, when my class was taught sex education by our Integrated Science teacher. I was like, wow! This is what has been happening to me. As a result of the untidy materials I used to soak up my period, I contracted an infection. It took a while before I was able to treat the infection.
I encourage sex education, and women’s menstruation shouldn’t be hidden. Hiding menstruation results in harm to women.
Contributor: Udeakor Juliet Tobechukwu