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{
    "id": 34580,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/34580/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 370,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Dr. Machage",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 179,
        "legal_name": "Wilfred Gisuka Machage",
        "slug": "wilfred-machage"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I thank you for your prayers. I am now as fit as a fiddle to carry on with the work of nation building. Indeed, the physiological needs of the girl-child cannot be under-estimated in the development of a country. Eng. Gumbo has focused his thoughts on girls aged between 15 and 25 years. Our knowledge shows that menstruation starts as early as at the age of nine years. It is, in fact, documented in medical books that a six year old is the youngest girl that has been known to be pregnant. In Kenya, we have our records at nine years, meaning that menstruation starts a little bit earlier than is anticipated by hon. Gumbo. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in some communities, nine year olds are in nursery school. So, this programme should not be limited to only primary and secondary school girls. Maybe, we should focus a little bit lower, especially in the marginalised communities in this country, where children’s education starts far much later. In my community, education used to start at 12 years, until very recently. Some of us went to school after grazing cows for a few years. This will be a noble exercise; it will be full of blessings. As hon. Ngilu said, girls and women in the villages use unhygienic materials in place of sanitary towels. This leads to pelvic inflammatory diseases that more often than not lead to infertility and other complications. There are psychological factors associated with this because it is never understood in many communities that this is a normal physiological process. Maybe, some education also needs to be given. Teachers should be educated on what the cycles are, so that they can teach the girl child to understand herself even better and to handle this normal physiological process appropriately. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, apart from the sanitary towels, maybe this could be expanded further later to include supply of soap at certain times of the month to every girl in school, when funds are available. But we should not forget the boy-child also. Quite a few are punished for not having a blade to shave their beards. It is a reality that some people are more hairy than others and are punished every week for not shaving. Some families cannot afford just a blade for a boy-child to shave his beards. It may sound funny but it is the truth and it happens. As we endeavour to improve the education standards, the health of the child at this level is important. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to support."
}