'The girl with her period is the one to hang her head' Reflections on menstrual management among schoolgirls in rural Kenya.

BACKGROUND: The onset of menstruation is a landmark event in the life of a young woman. Yet the complications and challenges that can accompany such an event have been understudied, specifically in resource-poor settings. As interventions aim to improve female attendance in schools, it is important to explore how menstruation is perceived and navigated by girls in the school setting. This research conveys rural Kenyan schoolgirls' perceptions and practices related to menstruation METHODS: Data were collected at six rural schools in the Nyanza Province of Western Kenya. Using focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, and field notes from observations, researchers collected information from 48 primary schoolgirls and nine teachers. Systematic analysis began with a reading of transcripts and debriefing notes, followed by manual coding of the narratives. RESULTS: Focus group discussions became opportunities for girls to share thoughts on menstruation, instruct one another on management practices and advise one another on coping mechanisms. Girls expressed fear, shame, distraction and confusion as feelings associated with menstruation. These feelings are largely linked to a sense of embarrassment, concerns about being stigmatized by fellow students and, as teachers explained, a perception that the onset of menstruation signals the advent of a girl's sexual status. Among the many methods for managing their periods, girls most frequently said they folded, bunched up or sewed cloth, including cloth from shirts or dresses, scraps of old cloth, or strips of an old blanket. Cloth was reported to frequently leak and cause chafing, which made school attendance difficult particularly as the day progressed. Attitudes and practices of girls toward menstruation have been arranged into personal, environmental and behavioural factors. CONCLUSION: Further research on menstrual management options that are practical, sustainable and culturally acceptable must be conducted to inform future programs and policies that aim to empower young girls as they transition into womanhood. Stakeholders working within this and similar contexts must consider systematic mechanisms to explain to young girls what menstruation is and how to manage it. Providing sanitary supplies or guiding girls on how to create supplies serve as critical components for future interventions.

Enhancing a safe water intervention with student-created visual aids to promote handwashing behavior in Kenyan primary schools.

The Nyando Integrated Child Health Education (NICHE) project was a collaborative effort by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and local partners to assess the effectiveness of multiple interventions for improving child survival in western Kenya. To increase handwashing in schools, NICHE trained teachers and installed handwashing stations with treated water and soap in 51 primary schools. This cluster-randomized trial evaluated an additional educational strategy (a poster contest themed, "Handwashing with Soap") to improve handwashing behavior in 23 NICHE primary schools. Pupils were engaged in the poster development. Pupil handwashing behavior was observed unobtrusively at baseline and after four months. Intervention schools displayed a significant increase in the number of handwashing stations and proportion of teacher-supervised stations over the study period. No significant between-group differences of intervention in handwashing frequency, soap availability, or visibility of handwashing stations was observed. Despite finding a limited effect beyond the NICHE intervention, the trial appeared to promote sustainability across some measures.