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Theresa Nyava

Zimbabwean actist focusing on period poverty - lack of access to sanitary aids

Theresa Farai Nyava (born 1991) in a family of five girls from a peasant family in the rural district of Zvimba, in Zimbabwe. Her parents struggled to meet the basic necessities for her and other family members and failed to meet her sanitary needs. Theresa is known for her work in fighting for the eradication of period poverty in Zimbabwe through Sanitary Aid Zimbabwe, an organisation that has lobbied for free sanitary wear to school girls.

I envision a Zimbabwe where all girls and women can access adequate menstrual products, in an environment that is period-conducive and be treated with dignity in order for them to manage their periods in a manner that fosters human and sustainable development.

Quotes

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  • I have a deep love for my country and I am passionate about women claiming their power through self-care. This can only happen if we start to build a today and tomorrow that is full of empowered women and healthy girls as well as responsible boys and men. Girls and women should not regret their gender. Let us support them to manage their periods with dignity.
 
A girl who is absent from school due to menstruation for four days every month loses at least 40 learning days...It’s like not going to school for half of a school term.
  • A girl who is absent from school due to menstruation for four days every month loses at least 40 learning days, the equivalent of six weeks of learning, per year. It’s like not going to school for half of a school term. Equity in education can therefore not be achieved under such a scenario.” She added that this development, if implemented well, would ensure that girls attend school, concentrate and also participate in sporting activities, improve their mental health and generally be in control of their periods. She added that this development, if implemented well, would ensure that girls attend school, concentrate and also participate in sporting activities, improve their mental health and generally be in control of their periods...
    It will also address issues to do with period shaming, as girls are often laughed at when they spoil their school uniform or the school chair, or when walking awkwardly due to use of improper and inconvenient menstrual absorbents such as rags, cow dung, you name it... From our estimates, we might be actually looking at a number of 550,000 schoolgirls at most, both in urban and rural schools, that need sanitary wear, which translates to a sanitary wear per capita of ZWL $363 (US$22.6). This means that the allocated money is adequate to cater for all schoolgirls who menstruate, in both urban and rural areas.
  • Let me highlight that menstrual poverty is not something that only affects girls or women who are poor. It is not just lack of sanitary wear, but it is also a lack of proper menstrual facilities, period education and a period-friendly environment... When a girl is on her period, she needs a supportive environment that helps her to manage her period with dignity. I was born into a family with five girls with an extended family of 15 people in rural Zvimba. Seven of us were girls who needed at least seven packets of sanitary pads every month to manage our periods but due to unavailability, we had to resort to using anything else to manage our periods... Our main challenge in our work is lack of resources to reach out to more vulnerable girls who are suffering from period poverty. The move by Scotland has shown us that it can be done but Zimbabwe still has a long way to go to completely eradicate period poverty.

Quotes about her

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  • Theresa Nyava, the executive director of Sanitary Aid Zimbabwe Trust welcomed the development saying it will go a long way in bringing equity in education. She said it has been established that 72 percent of school girls in rural areas don’t use commercial sanitary wear, desperately resorting to unhygienic means, with 62 percent of them missing school every month... She added that this development, if implemented well, would ensure that girls attend school, concentrate and also participate in sporting activities, improve their mental health and generally be in control of their periods. She added that this development, if implemented well, would ensure that girls attend school, concentrate and also participate in sporting activities, improve their mental health and generally be in control of their periods. She said from their own calculations, the $12.5 million (USC) earmarked for the project can actually cater not just for rural girls, but also for all schoolgirls who need sanitary pads in Zimbabwe.
  • Theresa is one of the exemplary women who are making impact at the grassroots level in Zimbabwe. Her work in fighting to eradicate period poverty since 2016 has tremendously benefited local communities of young women and girls in rural and urban Zimbabwe. From founding an organization with personal funds in 2016 together with funds from well wishers, Theresa has demonstrated great empathy and a high level of zeal and determination. She has soldiered on, albeit the economic challenges in the country and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This has seen her organization, Sanitary Aid Zimbabwe expanding its work, to now offer more services such as training services for women and young girls that empower them to make reusable sanitary pads and other hygienic products... It is therefore not surprising that Theresa is affectionately known as “Sanitary Bae” in social circles because of her work in Sanitary issues.

See also

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