Feminine hygiene and menstruation
Menstruation is a real obstacle to education for teenage girls: the frequent absence of toilets in schools, the lack of sanitary protection and, above all, a lack of knowledge about the female cycle and the significance of menstruation mean that more than 75% of girls in the villages of Lang Khang to interrupt their schooling for one week a month when they are menstruating, and 30 to 40% gradually stop their schooling altogether for this reason.
Several times a year, we organise training sessions and awareness campaigns to teach girls and women about good feminine hygiene and the female cycle. It is a continuation of the work we have been doing with women in several of the villages in this cluster since 2019, as part of exchange and training groups known as Mothers' Groups. The aim of this programme is to continue our initial actions and extend our projects in the area of support for girls, young girls and women with regard to feminine hygiene.
Our objectives:
* to inform girls and young women about menstruation, its significance, causes and effects.
* to enable them to practise good feminine hygiene
* to set up the necessary structures for good feminine hygiene by renovating the toilets in Lang Khang secondary schools
* developing training courses on the female cycle
* setting up new Mothers' Groups, i.e. meetings coordinated with the Women's Union, a local association, to exchange and share information on feminine hygiene and the hygiene and nutrition of infants and young children
* Organise sewing courses to learn how to make washable sanitary towels: this will enable a local and independent supply of sanitary products (currently imported from China).