Dubai Telegraph - Cost, taboo make menstruation a nightmare for Cameroonian refugees

EUR -
AED 3.871903
AFN 71.610071
ALL 98.242663
AMD 407.884718
ANG 1.899392
AOA 962.461144
ARS 1051.095582
AUD 1.630814
AWG 1.900149
AZN 1.783965
BAM 1.957637
BBD 2.127897
BDT 125.938188
BGN 1.954674
BHD 0.397158
BIF 3111.81036
BMD 1.054174
BND 1.41819
BOB 7.281834
BRL 6.104518
BSD 1.053894
BTN 88.951199
BWP 14.466645
BYN 3.448937
BYR 20661.816286
BZD 2.124294
CAD 1.482475
CDF 3021.263967
CHF 0.937477
CLF 0.037271
CLP 1028.431472
CNY 7.626213
CNH 7.635
COP 4724.54567
CRC 538.284734
CUC 1.054174
CUP 27.935619
CVE 110.368576
CZK 25.289956
DJF 187.667008
DKK 7.459129
DOP 63.738607
DZD 141.158446
EGP 52.233176
ERN 15.812615
ETB 130.635816
FJD 2.398089
FKP 0.832078
GBP 0.831691
GEL 2.87266
GGP 0.832078
GHS 16.940898
GIP 0.832078
GMD 74.846496
GNF 9082.662124
GTQ 8.138676
GYD 220.486918
HKD 8.204275
HNL 26.6111
HRK 7.519698
HTG 138.466153
HUF 406.349426
IDR 16768.856012
ILS 3.944195
IMP 0.832078
INR 89.033084
IQD 1380.595634
IRR 44386.008591
ISK 145.708273
JEP 0.832078
JMD 166.837361
JOD 0.747514
JPY 164.942961
KES 136.220052
KGS 91.05589
KHR 4280.590799
KMF 491.770599
KPW 948.756471
KRW 1474.347044
KWD 0.324243
KYD 0.878224
KZT 522.490336
LAK 23151.726967
LBP 94374.666839
LKR 307.898951
LRD 194.4434
LSL 19.290503
LTL 3.112702
LVL 0.637659
LYD 5.147855
MAD 10.525978
MDL 19.090916
MGA 4937.657213
MKD 61.587798
MMK 3423.917006
MNT 3582.084216
MOP 8.448529
MRU 41.895728
MUR 49.704017
MVR 16.297895
MWK 1827.423631
MXN 21.582195
MYR 4.72162
MZN 67.308645
NAD 19.290503
NGN 1770.685769
NIO 38.782901
NOK 11.744719
NPR 142.322239
NZD 1.799127
OMR 0.407434
PAB 1.053889
PEN 4.015769
PGK 4.175503
PHP 62.022327
PKR 292.71559
PLN 4.322273
PYG 8230.724205
QAR 3.841924
RON 4.975915
RSD 117.086218
RUB 104.862986
RWF 1446.964781
SAR 3.959512
SBD 8.837548
SCR 14.351622
SDG 634.090166
SEK 11.584218
SGD 1.416283
SHP 0.832078
SLE 23.933098
SLL 22105.512983
SOS 602.268061
SRD 37.271911
STD 21819.279647
SVC 9.221654
SYP 2648.644405
SZL 19.298202
THB 36.829162
TJS 11.234396
TMT 3.68961
TND 3.328539
TOP 2.468978
TRY 36.287735
TTD 7.155715
TWD 34.276459
TZS 2804.103809
UAH 43.446279
UGX 3867.629615
USD 1.054174
UYU 44.772229
UZS 13497.667019
VES 47.912484
VND 26773.391792
VUV 125.153691
WST 2.942823
XAF 656.576285
XAG 0.034754
XAU 0.000412
XCD 2.848958
XDR 0.793949
XOF 656.576285
XPF 119.331742
YER 263.385359
ZAR 19.271466
ZMK 9488.827738
ZMW 28.902123
ZWL 339.443695
  • RBGPF

    61.8400

    61.84

    +100%

  • JRI

    -0.0300

    13.21

    -0.23%

  • SCS

    -0.1000

    13.27

    -0.75%

  • NGG

    0.2500

    62.37

    +0.4%

  • RIO

    -0.1900

    60.43

    -0.31%

  • BCE

    -0.3700

    26.84

    -1.38%

  • BCC

    -2.2000

    140.35

    -1.57%

  • RELX

    -0.1700

    45.95

    -0.37%

  • CMSC

    -0.0600

    24.55

    -0.24%

  • CMSD

    -0.0050

    24.725

    -0.02%

  • GSK

    -0.7200

    34.39

    -2.09%

  • RYCEF

    -0.3200

    6.79

    -4.71%

  • AZN

    -0.2500

    65.04

    -0.38%

  • BTI

    0.0700

    35.49

    +0.2%

  • VOD

    -0.0700

    8.68

    -0.81%

  • BP

    0.4800

    29.05

    +1.65%

Cost, taboo make menstruation a nightmare for Cameroonian refugees
Cost, taboo make menstruation a nightmare for Cameroonian refugees

Cost, taboo make menstruation a nightmare for Cameroonian refugees

On the day Geraldine Mbia Enu fled her home with her three children to escape the conflict in southwestern Cameroon, her period began.

Text size:

Having hastily gathered her belongings when the sound of gunshots inched closer to her village, she'd forgotten to take menstrual pads.

So on their exhausting seven-day trek to neighbouring Nigeria in 2018, the 33-year-old had to make do -- like many women in similar situations.

"We just used pieces (of cloth) to pad ourselves," she said.

Even after reaching safety, the challenges are manifold for menstruating refugee women who have abandoned their homes and lost their livelihoods.

One million people have fled the violence in Cameroon between security forces and rebels fighting for an independent state.

More than 70,000 of them have arrived in Nigeria.

- 'Too expensive' -

Magdalene Ajili lives in one of three camps set up in Ogoja, eastern Nigeria, with her 86-year-old grandmother, her two daughters and their children.

She also sought refuge in 2018 after becoming separated from her husband when they fled their village and has since lost contact with him.

"I’m the head of the family," she said, "I take care of the family for food."

However, when it comes to sanitary pads "it's not possible (to buy them) as it’s too expensive," she added.

A pack of sanitary pads costs about 600 naira (1.2 euros) -- or a fifth of the cash they receive every month from the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).

"Most of the refugees cannot afford the cost of (the) monthly purchase of disposable pads," said UNHCR's gender-based violence protection officer in Ogoja, Mmone Moletsane.

UNHCR and its NGO partner distribute washable and reusable pads.

- Missing school -

"I preferred the ones we were using in Cameroon, disposable ones, but the pads they gave us are ok," said 16-year-old Christabel, another refugee.

For three years, Ajili has been using the same reusable pads provided by the UN.

She says she is happy with them but would like to get new ones. "Sometimes... it gives me rashes," she said.

But the UNHCR says it doesn't have the funds to provide new pads, or to give packs to every single refugee.

Many other women uprooted by the conflict in Cameroon live outside the official camps and have not received any pads at all.

They use what they can find -- pieces of cloth -- despite the risk of infection.

Lack of proper protection means that sometimes girls "miss school when they are menstruating", said Moletsane.

Older women often miss work.

On top of the practical challenges, the subject of periods is taboo in Nigeria, as in many countries around the world, she added.

That makes it difficult, for instance, to dry washable pads outdoors which is important for avoiding bacteria, or when girls have to share the same toilet block as boys at school.

- New buyers -

Some refugees are taught how to make reusable pads to sell.

Mbia Enu has made about a hundred using materials provided by Save the Children.

The charity also bought the pads she made and distributed them to those in need.

But Mbia Enu is now struggling to find new customers among the refugee community.

The pads she makes -- sewed using three layers of different types of cloth including a waterproof one -- are sold for 800 naira for a pack of three.

Determined to find new buyers, Mbia Enu used her meagre savings to travel to a market in Ikom, about 90 kilometres (56 miles) away, where she convinced a shop owner to buy the pads.

"He thinks Nigerian women might be interested in buying them," Mbia Enu said, hopefully.

Period poverty doesn't just affect refugees but also millions of poor Nigerian women.

Inflation has hit Nigeria hard this year, and the price of sanitary products has gone up like everything else.

According to the government, 37 million women in the country cannot afford menstrual pads.

V.Munir--DT