Her health Her future project 2020

Shifting our concerns to health-related issues of menstruating girls and women, menstrual sanitation and performance are influenced by multiple factors, however; knowledge about menstruation plays a key role in attaining proper hygiene. High-quality menstrual hygienic knowledge and practices are essential throughout menstruation time as it improve the self-assurance of females in several ways. Nevertheless, research and dissemination of accurate information about menstruation has been neglected especially in the developing world for a long time. RACE Foundation in their review reported that girls in majority of the developing world enter puberty with knowledge gaps and mistaken beliefs about menstruation. Our research argued that this lack of knowledge is because adults around them are ill-informed and uncomfortable discussing issues related to sexuality, reproduction and menstruation. These findings are further supported by various studies reported from communities within Uganda and some of our partners in Kenya where girls had poor knowledge of menstruation and thus do not fully understood the physical process of menstruation. Inline to what is reported; Coast et al. in their scoping review claimed about inadequate knowledge about menstruation and low levels of pre-menarche knowledge among adolescent girls, hence were under-prepared for puberty and menstruation.

In addition to poor knowledge towards menstruation, females in low- and middle income countries are normally deprived in making use of the available resources, especially when it comes to menstruation-related hygiene issues. Within this context, no formal guidance from the schools, lack of cultural acceptance of alternative menstrual products, limited economic resources and inadequate water and sanitation facilities are reported as major reasons during the surveys that we have gathered together with our partners https://www.techxlab.org/projects/her-health-her-future/  . Moreover, inadequate WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) facilities, particularly in schools and other public places are rated as a major obstacle. Collectively, a growing body of evidence shows that girls' inability to manage their menstrual hygiene results in school absenteeism, poor academic performance and episodes of anxiety and depression during or near the menstrual period which in turn has severe societal, economic, healthcare costs. Therefore, evaluating menstrual knowledge and hygiene performance of female adolescents and understanding the knowledge gap is crucial to strengthen sanitized practices during the menstruation cycle.

Full-stop Campaign 2018

Part of our campaign to stop child abuse, sexual assault, abject poverty in various communities in Uganda as RACE- Foundation, our 2018 resolution is to provide vulnerable communities with the required basic necessities, self reliance skills to youth, single mothers and elderly ones to become self reliant.