Magari yaliyotumika ya kijapani

• Nchi: Tanzania, United Republic Of
• Tarehe: 2017-06-01

WHY SHOULD PICK ME AS THE WINNER?
“PROUD TO BE A GIRL PROJECT”
Menstruation is an integral and normal part of human life, indeed of human existence, and menstrual hygiene is fundamental to the dignity and wellbeing of women and girls and an important part of the basic hygiene, sanitation and reproductive health services to which every woman and girl has a right. Globally, approximately 52% of the female population (26% of the total population) is of reproductive age. Most of these women and girls menstruate each month for between two and seven days.
The subject of menstruation however, is too often taboo and has many negative cultural attitudes associated with it, including the idea that menstruating women and girls are contaminated, dirty and impure. Women and girls in rural setting and in particular girls in schools suffer most from stigma and lack of services and facilities to help them cope with the physical and psychological pains they undergo during their menstrual periods; inadequate preparations for the young girls not yet experiencing menstrual hygiene, lack of or inadequate water to clean and wash the body, lack of materials managing menstrual hygiene, private space and wash rooms and inappropriate facilities for disposal of materials for those who have used pads. In spite of these issues, menstrual hygiene has been routinely ignored by professionals in the water, health and education sectors.
Currently in Musoma Rural District, Mara region Tanzania, the means of copying for girl pupils is the use of old cloth, dirty napkins and other un-hygiene materials.
I, as a native from rural area(Musoma rural district), I committed to respond to the needs of building capacity of schools and teachers in improving and upholding menstrual hygiene and sanitation girls in selected primary schools of Musoma rural district. I proposed to offer direct in-kind support (tool kits) to schools and selected girls, train them in menstrual hygiene and sanitation practices and encourage the replication of acquired knowledge at household levels. At the same time focuses on increasing awareness and capacity of young girls and women in the communities at large to deal with menstrual hygiene.
The project addresses the information gap among girls, parents and teachers about menstruation and hygiene in the remote areas. Girls between 9 - 18 years old lack sufficient knowledge about their body changes, especially on how they can handle and manage themselves during their menstruation period.
The project intends to develop a menstruation and hygiene toolkit for remote areas (with e.g. a movie, a female human body dummy, hygiene pads and interactive games) to educate girls, parents and teachers, but we’re missing the capable camera for filming and making documentaries. The goal is to break taboos that cause unnecessary tension and eventually keep young women and girls in school. The toolkit will be used in schools and the community (through outdoor cinema) and easily attracts people and creates an environment for interaction. By using this innovative material the project will create a long-lasting impact. Audiovisual material have proven to make learning more permanent since students use more than one sense to capture and process the information.
I can guarantee success, because as a native from rural remote area, I’m completely familiar with the cultural believes and practices in the area. If succeeded to be the winner for the Japanese Camera, I will develop professional videos (in English and Swahili version) aiming creating awareness about menstruation and hygiene for the school girls. Addressing this taboo topic is completely new in these remote areas. Besides this, I will use an integrated approach and educate girls, parents (caregivers), teachers as well as the communities to break taboo and negative cultural attitudes associated with menstruation for our young school girls.
According to the Musoma Rural District survey conducted in October, 2016 have shown that a total of 70% of the girl pupils report to miss 1-3 days of primary schools per month, which translates to a loss of 8 to 24 school days per year. This means per term a girl pupil may miss up to 8 days of study. This represents around 10% of girl pupils attendance missed due to menstruation. A majority of these girls note that they are physically sick and weak, cannot concentrate, or feel psychologically effects. In addition, 60% of the head teachers note that the girls absentee themselves from school during their menstrual cycle. It was further noted that around 10% of the total number of girls dropping out of school due to menstrual management and their schools do not have satisfying menstrual facilities. Over 100% of school matrons affirmed the provision of menstrual pads to girls at school is not available.
Parents do not provide enough education on menstruation to their daughters. Teachers are not comfortable in teaching about menstruation and hygiene.
Menstruation and hygiene issues in these extremely remote areas are too often not addressed at all, because taboos and cultural practices make people ignore and stigmatize the topic. Education materials in schools (when used), are most of the time not attractive for learning to the young generation since they are solely in paper form. So, having a camera for filming and making documentary will easy implementation of the project for the school girls, teachers and the communities to deliver the message.
Let’s join hand together by choosing me as the winner for the Japanese camera on 20th July 2017 to fulfill my dreams of disseminating information for the marginalized groups.

Thank you,
With many blessings,
Christopher Gamba,
P.O.Box 1403,
Saragana village-Musoma Rural District,
Mara region Tanzania (EA)
E-mail: cgamba2004@gmail.com/ cgamba2004@yahoo.com