Meet Nimo Mohamed Umar aged 29 years old with four children. She is an Environmental teacher at SAMTEC College, a Technical college located on the outskirt of Belet Hawa Town. The implementation of the project was chosen to be part of the school-led total sanitation (SLTS) program which aims at improving sanitation in schools. Through the inclusion of a Menstruation Hygiene Management (MHM) latrine in school, Nimo has managed to teach girls improved proper hygiene after the training she received from ASEP. Nimo said that shame, prickly, uncomfortable feeling, stigma, and superstition discourages girls from attending schools during their days of menstruation. She states that a major reason for the decrease in the girls ‘attendance at school was the lack of clean water, proper toilets, and good hygiene which are important ingredients for improving the lives of these girls. The MHM facility has provided the girls a safe space equipped with water to allow the girls to preserve their dignity during their days of menstruation allowing them to come to school and attend their classes without the stigma associated with the lack of adequate sanitation facilities.
Nimo also added that the provision of hygiene kits to the college was appreciated by the girls as most of the girls were in desperate need of the hygiene kits. In addition to this, the attendance of the girls in the college has improved as the girls can now focus on education instead of worrying about managing their periods during school hours. They can, therefore, chase their dreams and eventually become who they want to be and help their people.
