A perfectly natural part of life

While she is a committed student and has very high marks in all of her classes, there is a high likelihood that her education may be cut short.

The government reports that 23% of girls drop out of school when they hit puberty.

The fact of the matter is that many young girls are not educated about puberty, menstruation in particular, and schools seldom have proper facilities and resources to help female students adequately handle menstruation.  

This sadly leads many young women like Juliet to temporarily or permanently abandon their studies because they fear getting their period at school.

To combat this problem, Water Compass conducts Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) education at primary schools, including Juliet's.

The trainings are provided to both girls and boys to help reduce any stigma surrounding menstruation and show that’s it a perfectly natural part of life.  

Additionally, the availability of menstrual hygiene products can be limited in rural areas, so Water Compass leads trainings with female students and teachers on how to make re-usable menstrual pads with locally available materials.

Water Compass also works with partners like Rotary International and USAID who construct modern toilets blocks for girls that have dedicated rooms for menstrual hygiene management.

Together, we equip schools and young women with the knowledge, resources and facilities to ensure menstruation is no reason to end education.

Thanks to these efforts, Juliet is on track to complete her studies in a few short years!