Agatha Dusengimana is a 16-year-old who goes to GS Kagugu in Senior One. Her parents are separated, and her mother hardly affords her school requirements, let alone a monthly sanitary pad. The predicament of Aline Byishimo, 14 and Dusengimana’s classmate, is not any different because her parents cannot afford this monthly expenditure. As a result, both girls use pieces of cloths when they have their menstrual periods at home to stay clean, and only get to use clean pads when they are at school, in the girl’s room (icyumba cy’umukobwa). The room is equipped with sanitary pads, towels, painkillers, a bed, water, and soap, among other utensils, for the girls who cannot afford to buy sanitary pads. They get them for free. The two girls and their adolescent schoolmates are beneficiaries from the #FreeThePeriod initiative, which was first initiated last year by Isabella Akaliza, a local activist and later got well-wishers attention to support it. On Monday last week, Fiona Mbabazi an anchor at Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA) and her friends saw the initiative’s tweet calling upon people to pledge and help girls this semester. They tried reaching out to donate but failed. They decided to take the challenge anyway, with Mbabazi taking the lead. In order to get people directly involved, the challenge was to buy the pads, and she would collect them or one would find her and give them out. Many people pledged on Twitter, including her friends, family, workmates, even people living abroad who sent her money to buy the pads. Speaking to The New Times, Mbabazi expressed gratitude to all people who partnered to make the challenge a success. “I want to say ‘thank you’ to everyone who contributed, people who came with the pads and dropped them at work, people who sent in Mobile Money, big CEO’s who went out their way to contribute. And also to remind them it is a He for She, men should also get more involved, which am glad to see, that they got involved as well.” She further explained that this will not end here. “I am happy that within a week we have at least 520 sanitary towels contributed in various ways. But I am hoping that we continue, because I am seeing there is a big need. “I am taking it upon myself to do this at least every other month. So, in March, I am hoping to do the same and go to another school, and maybe make it bigger.” The pads collected were 520 distributed to 500 students. The remaining were to be put in the Girl’s room, for emergency purposes. #FreeThePeriod Isabella Akaliza, the founder of #FreeThePeriod initiative, who is currently not in country for academic purposes told The New Times that aside Mbabazi’s challenge, they received 287 pads as of Thursday, January 24, from the Twitter challenge alone. By Sunday, the donations had increased to 916 packets of pads through Mobile Money donations. The pads are to be given to school girls from a primary school in Bugesera, in Ngeruka Sector, and that donations are on-going. “Our aim is to provide the schools we donate to with enough pads for each semester”, she said. “We as #freetheperiod are very grateful for all the donations. Our goal has always been community engagement and seeing all of us come together to end period poverty, and it has been so overwhelming- we are filled with joy and the encouragement to keep going,” she added.
