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{
    "id": 34555,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/34555/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 345,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Eng. Gumbo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 24,
        "legal_name": "Nicholas Gumbo",
        "slug": "nicholas-gumbo"
    },
    "content": "This is important because we know that other than the fact that these girls will not be able to go to school, there are also serious psychological issues that go with it. Here, I want to declare that as someone who grew up in a very poor rural household, I saw my elder sisters in the days we used to go to primary school--- I used to notice that every month, for four to five days they would miss school. Of course, those days, the society was not as free as it is today. We would ask and we would simply be told that they are ill until we discovered that one of the reasons the girls could not go to school was that they did not have these facilities and the way out was for them to go into the farm, dig out holes and sit there the whole day. It is a dehumanizing experience! I also have an experience where these young girls who would accidentally come across, because this is a natural process, some of them would be labeled “Mamas” and it really had a very devastating effect on their self-esteem and psyche and many of them ended up in early marriages because the society had labeled them “Mamas” anyway. As a society, we must grade our priorities. We know that in most of our public facilities today, there are many provisions for our boys, for example, condoms. If you go to a number of these hotels, you will find that there are dispensers which have condoms and those who want them can use them. However, the truth of the matter is that teenage boys will not miss school if they lack condoms. In fact, condoms are things you need when you are well-fed, energetic and active. It is something one can opt to do without, but that does not apply to girls who miss sanitary towels and are unable to go to school because of this condition that they cannot do anything about. As I conclude, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I urge this House that as leaders of this country, we need to confront this problem so that we address all the vulnerable groups in Kenya that need these items but cannot get them. I think this is possible. In the Budget that was read in this House two or so months ago, a provision of Kshs300 million was given. That is a good attempt and we laud the Prime Minister and his office for taking that initiative to lead in this very important process of trying to build self esteem and to keep our girls in school as much as possible. However, the Kshs300 million is by far inadequate. My estimation is that at the very best, it can only provide for about 30 per cent of the girls who need free sanitary towels."
}