Period poverty is when you cannot afford proper hygiene products during your period. Products like tampons, , sanitary pads, etc. These seven Nigerian women share times in their lives when they have experienced period poverty.
Ade, 20
There was a time I had to used paper towels. Luckily, I happened to find an actual towel later. I folded it and used. A whole goddamn towel. Each time I went to the restroom, I would fold the towel in a different way to avoid it from soaking really quickly.
Mayowa, 20
Once, I was extremely broke and my parents were completely out of reach. I had to use tissues, and even the tissues were given to me by someone. I cried so much.
Hafiza, 21
I had to go to school while on my period, so I needed to buy pads. I also needed to buy food, but it was one or the other. So, I used my money for food to buy pad because school was compulsory. It was either I starve or I stain and I chose to starve.
Yinka, 20
I was to get money from someone, but banks were having so many issues that period. I cried so much because if I buy the pads plus the painkillers with the one thousand naira I had left, I would not be able to afford transportation to school or food in school. There were assignments I had to submit so I needed to be in school. So for the first day, I went to school using tissue papers. It was so uncomfortable because I could feel the tissue dissolve. When I got home, my friend asked why I did not stay till the end of the day. I told her my predicament and she sent me money and brought pads and food to my house.
Busola, 25
It was the first day of my period and I had classes for over six hours. On days like that, I usually try to place one pad on top of the other so I do not get stained. However I had used all the money I had to type and print out some work our lecturers assigned to me. I could not afford to use two pads at once, so I had to use tissue and a pad. For over six hours, that was just how I was.
Jane, 21
My period came two weeks earlier at my brokest point in school. Luckily, I was home all day for the first day so I kept alternating between tissues, plain underwear and just standing in the shower naked. It was such a stressful experience. When I woke up the next day there was a big stain on my bedsheets. I had to call my parents and beg for money.
Adaeze, 21
When I first started my period, for months I used my old school uniforms because I couldn鈥檛 afford pads. I鈥檇 cut them into smaller pieces, fold till it looked like tissue, and use them. Once it鈥檚 soiled, I鈥檒l wash it and use another. When I finally could afford pads I still really couldn鈥檛 afford a lot of them, so I鈥檇 use one for a whole day. What helped was I constantly rinsed myself so they wouldn鈥檛 be a lot of blood in the pad, and I did a lot of calculating too. I never used pads on the first and last days because it always felt like a waste.
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