'I no longer experience period shame like before, thanks to my life skills training in school.'

It is difficult to see it when you walk in. You may easily confuse it for stones neatly arranged in the middle of the compound. Or maybe an attempt at some creative landscaping. I mean it could be anything. The stones stand there majestically.
 

There is also a sole green leaf that appears when the winds blow then it disappears as if it awakens only to the sound of wind. Upon close inspection, it is a leaf from a growing tree that is tucked away between the stones. The stones are there to help it grow upright because the winds are so strong that
they determine the direction a tree will grow, or even uproot it all together before its roots are firmly in the ground.
 

This is Ayan’s tree, from a school project. It is the most promising one from the ones that are growing in the compound. The wind notwithstanding, she has really tried to nurture it. She says planting a tree from her life skills training is teaching her how to be patient.

“In school we go through life skills training, where we learn how to speak up for ourselves against the cultural injustices that affect us girls. We have also been learning how to take care of ourselves during the days we are on our period and eradicating period shame all together.”

For Ayan, the days she was on her period were coupled with a lot of shame because it meant she had to miss school for a week. While at home, she would have to hide from her male siblings because being on your period means you are dirty, so she had to stay secluded.
 

“If my period began when I was in school, I would fake a headache and ask the teacher to allow me to go home. I would go home and use the old pieces of clothes as my sanitary towels. That meant I could not move easily and be around people because the minute the clothes fill up, it’s a whole mess.”

With the help and training through the partnership between Oxfam in Kenya and Merti Integrated Development Program (MID- P), under the ASAL Humanitarian Network (AHN), she has been able to start using the reusable sanitary towels that she received. MID-P has been integral in training Ayan and other girls in the region on the use of sanitary towels as well as life skills that have helped restore their dignity. Through this program, they have been able to reach 1,100 females of reproductive age.

Story by Oxfam Communications.