Giving Nigerian Girls their Power Back

In August, Lolo Cynthia, a public health specialist and sexuality health educator, taught some 250 girls in southwest Nigeria how to sew their own reusable menstrual pads from linens and cloth. The target on menstruation began when Cynthia was studying in South Africa and came across girls complaining of expensive and unhygienic sanitary pads. Upon her return to Nigeria, she took what she calls a triple-A approach to period poverty  —  access, awareness and affordability. It started with the NoDayOff Campaign, which distributed more than 1,000 disposable menstrual pads to women and girls in her local community of Festac Town. Cynthia’s period pad initiative has become a powerful symbol in a conservative country where discussions around menstruation and sexual health are often seen as taboo.

SOURCE: OZY