Drought linked to menstrual problems in Marsabit county

Reproductive and menstrual health promotion has increased in Kenya and globally.

However, little progress has been made in arid and semi-arid areas of Kenya, because of endemic drought and starvation, which are blamed for depriving poor residents of their dignity.

During the recent Marsabit Youth Action Week held from June 6-11, youths and women recounted that despite improved uptake of menstrual products over the last decade there were still huge gaps to be filled.

Maisha Youths Marsabit chairperson Galmah Halakhe told the Nation that most poor women in remote areas do not have the luxury of buying sanitary towels.

The situation is aggravated during droughts when affording a meal is a Herculean task for most poor households.

“During the drought seasons, poor women and girls in Marsabit County find themselves between a rock and a hard place when they are faced with the challenges of choosing between buying food or sanitary towels,” Ms. Halakhe said.

Due to acute water scarcity, many girls and women find it difficult to bathe or wash their clothes.

Because of this, many schoolgirls skip classes during their menses, undermining their studies.

She appealed to NGOs, government agencies and other stakeholders to consider donating sanitary towels to such rural areas.

She recommended that poor women and girls be given only single-use pads in bulk because they were not capable of maintaining the hygiene required for reusable pads due to rampant water scarcity.

During celebrations to mark International Menstrual and Hygiene Day at Dub Goba in Marsabit Central, Food for the Hungry Kenya (FH-Kenya) reproductive and health hygiene officer Isabel Maranga decried challenges faced by poor girls and women in the county.

She explained that primary school girls skipped classes on averagethree days a month, adding to 144 lessons a year, and cumulatively failed to attend 342 lessons between Standard Six and Standard Eight when they did not have dignity kits.

The drought also compounded the stress level among girls and women during their menses because they are rendered weak after losing lots of iron through bleeding but failing to replenish the loss with the appropriate dietary prescription.

Inua Dada Mashinani Executive Director Jilloh Fugicha recounted that women and girls found it difficult to cope during their menses as they are the main water collectors from boreholes or water points.

“In most parts of our county, girls undergo … ordeals and shame during their menses for lack of sanitary towels and other forms of shame associated with it. However, today we made it easier for every girl in Dub Goba village to feel worthy and cared for,” Ms Fugicha said.

For the last three consecutive years, Marsabit County has experienced rain failure, resulting in more intense droughts.

Extreme weather events and changes in water cycle patterns are making it more difficult to access safe drinking water, especially for the most vulnerable children.

The majority of women and girls in Marsabit live in areas of high or extremely high water vulnerability. This means they do not have enough water to meet their needs.  

They must trek more than 20km to fetch water, which they carry on their backs or heads or at times on carts pulled by donkeys.
In a bid to feed their families, women have to indulge in labour-intensive work such as quarrying, which exhausts them.

Ms Fugicha said reproductive health challenges aggravated by the drought and starvation include common illnesses affecting women, tuberculosis, pneumonia, malaria, arthritis and ulcers.

Dub Goba youth representative Andrew Denge said women and girls spend more than eight hours a day fetching water during dry seasons. 

It was also established that gender-specific health problems are common during the dry season as men are also identified as having more reproductive issues such as prostate problems and difficulty in urinating. 

Similar sentiments were echoed by Asha Denge, a resident of the Dub Goba in Sagante Jaldesa.

The meeting was considered a shot in the arm for more than 200 girls and 100 boys who received 'packs of dignity kits' from the Inua Dada Mashinani organisation courtesy of the UNFPA.

Marsabit County Tourism, Culture, Gender, and Social Services officer Jane Denge praised the initiative, which she said was well-timed for restoring the dignity of girls and boys hailing from ‘disadvantaged family backgrounds’. 

She urged donors to develop sustainable measures so as to ensure no girl or boy stayed out of school due to reproductive health challenges or gender-based abuse.

Similar appeals were made by Sagante-Jaldesa Assistant Chief Waqo Abduba, who wanted other non-state actors and government agencies to follow suit.

“We call on other NGOs and government departments to run such programmes throughout all corners of this county to ensure all young girls and boys stay in school,” Mr Abduba said.