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| Young Girls Brandishing their Menstrual Kits from MECUDA USA through HOBET. |
On Tuesday June 6th 2023, young girls drawn from the Tondig zone of the Meta clan rallied in the Barakwe village hall for a one day Workshop on Gender Based Violence, Comprehensive Sexual Education and Menstruation. They came from Zem, Njindom, Wumnembug, Zang Tembeng, Sang and other neighbouring villages.
In a brief welcome address, Bah Christopher, the Barakwe Traditional Council Chairman speaking on behalf of the entire village thanked the brains behind the workshop for choosing Barakwe, the Rainbow Village as venue. He assured them that the villagers are always welcoming and anytime they may still have such workshops, their modern standard village hall will always be readily available to accommodate even hundreds of attendees.
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| Participants at the Workshop |
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| Practical Session on Production of Menstrual Bracelet |
A series of presentations were then done plus a a question and answer session. There was also experience sharing and playing of games at the end of which some of the attendees spoke to Mbengwi Online.
Abbey Antoinette Endah came all the way from Njinmocho to attend the workshop. She testified she's learnt a lot, some of which are things she knew before and others she just heard of them for the first time. She appreciated MECUDA USA for the good work done through HOBET.
On her part, Fomumbod Prisca Ndum from Zang Tembeng affirmed she's learnt more about menstrual hygiene, gender based violence and many other things. "I also thank HOBET and MECUDA USA for the enriching knowledge they've given to us plus our kits" she furthered.
Quizzed on how the knowledge she's gained will help her, Sakwe Louisline from Zem responded that "I've learnt how to calculate my menstrual circle which I'm obviously going to put it into practice. I've also learnt how to safe someone that's been through violence especially rape." She ended by thanking MECUDA USA for the support they've provided to them wishing God blesses them all.
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| Family Photo |
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| Abbey Antoinette |
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| Fomumbod Prisca |
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| Sakwe Louisline |
Tembeng Eli-anne is the founder of Hope for a Better Tomorrow (HOBET), the organisation MECUDA USA used to realise their project on the ground. When Mbengwi Online cornered her at the end of the workshop, we first wanted to know if the organisation's objectives were attained and she responded in the affirmative, adding that despite the current sociopolitical/economic situation in Mbengwi, the young girls still braved the odds to come for the training. "We are happy with MECUDA USA for trusting HOBET to carry out this activity in communities of Meta and we are convinced more of such opportunities will still come to make young girls in our communities happy" said Eli-anne.
To her, menstruation is a very big problem because nowadays, prices of pads have doubled, coupled with the ongoing crisis, leading to a lot of economic hardship. "These young girls aren't just unable to afford pads but there's also no portable water" she revealed. In her opinion, the training and kits she brought came in just at the right time to reach out to more young girls, educate and sensitise them to be able to not just cope with the situation but also understand that menstruation is part of every woman's life.
Comprehensive Sexual Education is still a taboo subject in most African homes. Words like sex, vagina and penis are still considered immoral. Parents still hold strong to the archaic view that talking about sex to a child is a taboo and that it rather "spoils" the child. These and more of such wrong believes necessitated a presentation on the subject.
As to what parents should do to their children with regards comprehensive sexual education, Eli-anne said "The communication needs to begin because these adolescent boys and girls need this education to be able to interact with their peers well." She added that "There are social ills we don't want to see in our communities and this can only be possible when we communicate with them the right way and make them comfortable to talk to us."
Lastly, on her expectations from all the trained participants, the HOBET founder said "We are hopeful that with this they'll be able to calculate their menstrual period, premarital sex and unplanned pregnancies will reduce in our communities because we've not just given them menstrual kits but have also educated them on how to calculate their menstrual period. We've given them the importance of speaking out and we've also spoken to them on how to interact in their communities, identify and report cases of gender based violence"
Before departing home, each of the girls was gifted a menstrual kit comprised of pads, pants, towels and soap. HOBET is an organisation dedicated to empowering vulnerable women and girls to cope and build resilience in the face of the devastating changing climate change and riding gender based violence threatening their livelihood and survival.
This they accomplish through indigenous/scientific knowledge/experience sharing, counseling, psychosocial support, training, education, mentorship and enhancing access to resources/opportunities with goal to see an Africa where women and girls are exceptionally empowered, resilient, safe from all kinds of abuse and participate in family and community development.
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