Doing Community-Based Menstrual Health Programming During COVID-19? Yes!
When COVID-19 first broke out, Kenya went into lockdown, restricting movements, and limiting social gatherings. In Mathare where we have our Kenya office, that’s pretty much impossible. Still, as a team, we didn’t feel comfortable going out into communities and groups and running the Twaweza Programme.
A few weeks ago, Ruth Ogola from Kariobangi Social Justice Centre invited us to do a workshop and distribute Femme Kits. Before attending the workshop, we had so many questions; was it even okay to do any workshops? With the team at the centre, we looked into it and discovered that it was okay to do so, just with certain changes.
We knew we had to maintain WHO and government guidelines on physical distancing so that we didn’t put ourselves or the girls at risk. It has been known that most cases of teenage pregnancy and risky sexual behaviours occur due to lack of RHE and lack of menstrual products. lockdown in the country meant no going to work for most parents and the little money available in families would only cater for food and nothing else, this meant that many girls ended up lacking menstrual products and access to SRHE.
On 27th April in collaboration with Kariobangi Social Justice Center, we ran the Twaweza Programme with girls from Kariobangi North Nairobi.
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As you can see from the photo, things were different. Normally, the Twaweza Programme runs 2–6 hours, but obviously that prolonged contact increases the risk, so we cut it down to 15 minutes! That hurt. It was hard, as we were losing out on some key components of what makes our programme so fun and effective. Normally we start out with icebreakers and a Needs Assessment, neither of which we did here. Our workshop covers a lot of material, including anatomy, puberty (or menopause with adults), PMS and pain management, reproductive health — so many topics that are vital to overall health had to be cut out. The Q&A, as well as follow-ups, have also been sacrificed in the name of keeping everyone safe.
Menstrual cups are a harder sell for most women and girls. It takes longer, and so this time around, most of the girls chose reusable pads (shoutout to AFRIpads and their amazing factory staff continuing to manufacture during COVID-19!). Normally, a lot of girls would be choosing cups, because they require less water, no soap, and are just an easier option in the long run. It’s not that we have anything against pads (we don’t, we love AFRIpads and everyone should be able to make an informed choice of product), it was just hard for us to not be able to offer the girls enough information to make that informed choice.
It wasn’t raining, so we used an open area. During the session the girls were standing 1.5 metres apart from each other with their mask on (mostly . . . we tried!). We all found the masks really hard because suddenly we couldn’t see their facial expressions, whether they were happy or bored or sad, and it’s so much harder to teach when you can’t tell the mood of the group. Also, speaking and projecting with the mask was really hard too — some words were not clear, and especially with being outside, we just couldn’t hear each other. So you had to get closer to understand each other, but you can’t because of physical distancing . . . you can see where I’m going here, right? But we made it work. The Health Officer kept dropping by to make sure we were following all the rules as well.
In total, there were 70 girls, and we had to divide them into 3 groups. There was a lot of crowd control involved in that, moreso with the girls outside the session.
Afterwards, we always like to do a photoshoot. A lot of the Kenya team are also photographers, and it’s a really fun way to celebrate doing something so positive. Obviously, we couldn’t do that either.
We planned for 70 girls and brought 70 Femme Kits, but so many more girls kept on coming. It shows how desperate the need for menstrual products is. We need more organisations to partner with us so that we can keep on addressing this need.
Otherwise, what we see happen is just heartbreaking. In a slum like Mathare, self-isolating and working from home isn’t a thing, people live hand to mouth. Physical distancing as you go through your day is impossible, too many people crammed into too small a space. There’s not enough soap or water to wash your hands as often as recommended. Menstruation is a financial burden and during COVID-19, it can strain a family even more. We hear stories all the time of how mothers and girls will have sex to get disposable pads or soap or things they need. Having a reusable product, a bar of soap, it takes away some of that burden so that people don’t have to choose between feeding their family and staying healthy.
In adhering to the measures we have put in place to continue programming during COVID-19, we can keep doing what we do best AND stay safe and healthy.
Check out our technical brief on running community-based programming during COVID-19, or get in touch with us to partner on a menstrual health workshop.
