Recently three members of our team, our Founder Lizette Beri, Josephine Mensah and Michael Adjei, visited YFM Accra where they were hosted by Zipporah Danquah on the Moneyhub program.
One of the things they discussed is an important and often overlooked topic: feminine hygiene and the impact on Mental Health. Below is an excerpt from the interview.
We’re excited to announce that tomorrow, Saturday, 28 June, we’ll be holding a special event focused on this very topic.
Register at https://bfcafrica.com/events/
Host: I understand that you have a special event coming up on the 28th. You are going to be hosting a mother and teenage daughter event that is focused on feminine hygiene and its impact on Mental Health. Why is this such an important topic right now, and what inspired this initiative?
Josephine Mensah: Feminine hygiene is deeply connected to women’s mental health, especially for young women. It shapes how we relate to others and directly impacts our self-confidence and self-esteem. Yet, it’s often overlooked. In many African households, mothers find it uncomfortable having sensitive conversations with their daughters and that silence can have lasting, detrimental effects.
Host: You wouldn’t think so! You’d think mothers would be all up in your business, telling you things you don’t want to hear?
Lizette Beri: Oh no, they’ll tell you plenty, but not always the right things! It’s like mothers assume that a child just knows how to take a bath, so they say, “Go take a bath”. But they haven’t taught that child how to clean their body properly, especially for young girls. There’s an art to it, and when it’s not taught, girls can grow into women who are lack confidence in their bodies, simply because they’ve never learned proper hygiene practices. As a result, their bodies are not in the state of health and cleanliness that they should be.
Host: My goodness, it is so crazy!
Michael Adjei: This topic is of particular interest to us because during this period in their lives, many young ladies tend to withdraw socially due to the fear of stigma. Because they don’t really understand what they are going through, they may not feel presentable in their state or understood, which affects their mental wellbeing. Therefore, our goal is to raise awareness and help young women embrace these natural aspects of their lives. We want to empower them with knowledge and confidence which is why we chose this topic.
Host: You rarely hear a lot of conversations linking feminine hygiene to mental health. There is a lot of conversation about cycle synching, and even now I’m just beginning to understand how the whole cycle impacts the hormones and our minds. My husband’s hair grows so fast all month. I’m trying to grow mine back, but I’m struggling. Men’s hormones are the same all throughout the month. Mine are not, they fluctuate. Having this conversation with mothers and daughters being in that same space is such a powerful thing, because then you’re not just preaching at the kids or you’re not just preaching at the moms, but you’re giving an opportunity for them to sit down, have a conversation, really connect with each other and even connect with other moms and daughters who are being conscious about going on this journey together.
Lizette Beri: We can’t just let our children Google everything. We must teach them!
Host: That is so powerful. Thank you so much for sharing.
