BULAWAYO, ZIMBABWE -- Growing up in the rural Chibi district of Masvingo in Zimbabwe, Tsitsi Moyo, 16, has never used a sanitary pad. She has never seen a tampon. Other sanitary wear such as keepers and moon cups, small internally worn, reusable, menstrual cups, too are luxuries beyond her reach.
Moyo, a short and pudgy-faced teenager has her own secret way to deal with her menstrual cycle -- her old blue t-shirt. She cut it into pieces and rolls it into large strips, thick enough to blot blood and prevent it from dripping down her legs.
"Girls suffer silently, losing their self-confidence, self-esteem and end up living a reclusive life."
“I started my period when I was 10 years old,” she says, ashamed. “The country’s economy was crushing. I vividly remember my aunt going out to look for cotton wool from all supermarkets in town. After waiting for a long time, she returned empty handed. She went into her bedroom and returned holding several pieces of cloth from her pile of rags,” recalls Moyo.
Moyo says her aunt showed her how to use the rags and offered one caution: never let a living soul see the rags. The consequence would be infertility, her aunt warned, passing on an old superstition, common among the tribal cultures of Zimbabwe that still shun menstruation.
Moyo says she cursed growing up. She says the cramps and unhygienic rags stuffed in her underwear forced her to stay home from school during her menstrual cycle.
“From then [on], I realized that once every month I had to be imprisoned and suffer the curse of womanhood,” says Moyo.
Economic and Environmental Conditions Impact Girls
Six years ago, Moyo’s aunt could not find or afford cotton wool for Moyo to use during her period. Today, the economy in Zimbabwe is slightly better but a new problem has emerged that impacts a woman’s ability to menstruate in healthy conditions – a water shortage.
The long periods of drought prevent local residents from regularly accessing a water supply. The water shortage also prevents Moyo from washing the rags she uses during her period, forcing her to reuse dirty rags month after month.
“We have daily water cuts and sometimes we can go for days without water. This means that when water comes we wash many rags,” Moyo explains. If she washes and dries her rags in the sun, “people will know what they are used for,” she says embarrassed and recalling her aunt’s warning to never let people see her rags.
Local pastor Febie Chuma, of Noah’s Ark Ministries, confirms Moyo’s plight. “Women are vulnerable to disease because they can not properly wash the rags they are using as pads. The water supply situation is poor, but most worrisome is that the women do not wash the rags with soaps or detergents because such items are not available,” says Chuma.
These conditions also result in numerous health risks for young women here. Dr. Lucia Takundwa, a senior doctor at Parirenyatwa Hospital, Zimbabwe’s largest referral hospital, says she sees many women who experience medical issues due to the unsanitary conditions available during menstruation. Takundwa says the most common problems she sees stem from women using dirty rags that are not changed or washed frequently. Similarly she says women who do have access to wash their rags often do so with unsafe water and dry them in filthy or damp conditions.
“This poor practice results in health risks such as scabies in vaginal areas, urinal infection, abnormal pains and complication during pregnancy,” says Takundwa.
Society Still Regards Menstruation as Taboo
Experts in Zimbabwe working to establish greater rights for women and girls say women still suffer humiliation and isolation during their periods.
