By Ayanna Albert – Art in Tanzania Internship
Down deep in the valleys, very far away from town, where there is neither much electricity nor water to take. Down deep where a girl is also a shepherd of cattle’s as well but then thanks to education now she can attend.
I have been a witness through my own campaigns as we visited these girls in the interior villages, their stories they told, “where when they were in the MP home, they had to stay. These are girls who had the same right to education, and hence, they would miss classes just because of the biological nature that God had created in them.”
Yes!! They are girls who can’t afford pads every month, and yet some, due to their biological makeup, find that the piece of cloth they use is insufficient to absorb the blood weight, forcing them to stay indoors for the entire day until the period is over. This means no school and no access to some of the things. So, is menstruation now a disability for girls?? (Some would ask) Or is it just the whole issue of poverty and not having?
Furthermore, this girl child is expected to perform well, if not better than boys, without considering the stories of house chores and fetching water from a long distance, as was the case in the past and still is to some extent.
The same girl child faces consequences when she fails to perform well in class, such as forced marriage and the like.
Here is a cry to a girl child and an applause to every movement around the world that supports such groups in purchasing reusable pads, at least those that can be washed again and again, for those without access to water. Still, this is a question?
A special note to this girl child;
Dear Girl child,
You’re beautiful, you are strong, and you’re worth beyond a thousand reasons why
There is nobody in the world like you
You got to get up (no matter what)
You got get up and make a move
Because the world won’t ever see you till you do
(Some of the lyrics song by Tatiana Manaois, song name: Like you)
By; Ayanna Albert Mushi
