Staff Reporter

Touched by the plight of young girls who could not afford adequate sanitary protection, Mt Darwin Senator, Alice Chimbudzi, last Friday donated sanitary pads to pupils at Chomagora primary school and promised to assist others in the surrounding community.

The ZANU PF legislator told this publication that as a woman and a mother, she knows the trauma of a woman who goes to her monthly periods without proper sanitary wear and she didn’t want the same predicament to face the young girls at Chomagora primary school, hence the donation.

“I donated the sanitary wear to the children as a way of promoting safe menstrual periods. I realised most school going girls do not use commercial sanitary wear and they desperately resort to unhygienic means. So as a way of assisting the girl child and promoting good health practice, I thought of sourcing the sanitary wear for the young girls. I hope that the sanitary wear will make a positive impact on the education of girl learners and restore their confidence and dignity,” said Senator Chimbudzi.

Senator Chimbudzi added that menstruation periods had caused some girls to miss school for at least four days every month and said that the absence of sanitary wear was impacting negatively on the equity in education.

“As the ZANU PF Government, we want our girls to be empowered academically. We want them to be the future engineers and doctors, but that cannot be achieved if they miss school due to menstruation. So the donation of sanitary wear is another way of promoting President Mnangagwa’s call of education for all,” added Cde Chimbudzi.

The legislator added that the sanitary pads would go a long way in addressing issues to do with period shaming as girls are often laughed at when they spoil their school uniform or the school furniture. She added that she was also advocating against early child marriages and was educating young girls to value education and desist from the habit of engaging in sexual activities.

Besides donating sanitary wear for over 170 pupils, the legislator also donated stationary and other items. She was accompanied by the Mashonaland Central provincial member for Young Women for E.D, Chiedza Chimbudzi and Mt Darwin DCC Secretary for Information and Publicity, Cde Tsikirai, among other officials.