Do you know where Girls use paper and leaves in Periods?
In India where the government has removed GST from sanitary napkins, there is a country where women are unable to procure it. When Maria Chawja, 17, of Zimbabwe, has a menstruation, she torn out the pillows made in her house and removes her old clothes and replaces sanitary napkins. The reason is that the cost of sanitary napkins in the country is very high.
Menstruation for Maria means taking a leave from the school because they have heavy bleeding and their dressed sanitary pad made of old clothes and lots are not enough. Neither Maria’s peasant parents nor their boyfriend are able to afford them sanitary napkins. Given this situation, it can be said that Zimbabwe is battling severe sanitary ware crisis.
Most schoolgirls unable to buy sanitary pads depend on the donations received from their teachers for this. Not only that, they are forced to use old torn lamps, plants and old newspapers.
In February this year, hundreds of girls and women gathered in the capital and marched. Its name was ‘Happy Flow Campaign’ and demand from the Government for sanitary ware which could be purchased.
Zimbabwe’s first lady Auxillia C. Mnangagwa distributed free sanitary napkins to poor women and girls, and now, in view of the upcoming elections in the country, it is expected that this crisis of sanitary napkins may be reduced.
President of Zimbabwe’s Rural Teacher Organization, Abert Masarro said, “Some girls have to use sanitary napkins instead of leaves, which also threaten their health. We want free sanitary napkins in schools. ‘
Why the challenge to buy sanitary napkins?
Along with teachers, some civil society groups have also come forward for help. Katherine, director of Youth Dialogue Action Network, says, “We have tried to get sanitary napkins for poor women and girls, especially in rural areas. Sanitary Napkin is such a big challenge because most families are living below $ 1 per day. They told that if you want to buy a packet of sanitary napkins in Zimbabwe then you have to pay at least $ 5 for it, which is not under the control of most families. In the year 2015, a packet of sanitary napkins was found in Zimbabwe for 1 dollar, but after this there was a terrible financial crisis in the country.
Why are sanitary napkins so expensive in Zimbabwe?
African countries Zimbabwe have suffered a severe shortage of cash in the last two years. Clovitt Investments, a company producing sanitary napkins in Zimbabwe, had stopped working in the country 4 years ago and now the sanitary napkins in the country are imported from neighboring countries like South Africa, due to which the price is quite high. In November last year, the only surviving sanitary ware maker, Ondadal Enterprise, had to shut down, because the company did not have foreign currency to import raw material.
