她正在改變?nèi)藗儗ε越?jīng)期的恥辱感

她正在改變?nèi)藗儗ε越?jīng)期的恥辱感

When Freweini Mebrahtu got her period at age 13, she panicked.

范偉尼梅布拉圖13歲來月經(jīng)時(shí)，她很恐慌。

"I was terrified," she said. "And I remembered (hearing) that it's actually a curse to have a period ... or that it meant I am ready to be married, or (that) I'm being bad."

“我嚇壞了，”她說。“我記得(聽到)，來例假其實(shí)是一種詛咒……或者這意味著我已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備結(jié)婚了，或者我很壞。”

Like most girls in northern Ethiopia, she suffered in silence, never mentioning it to her mother or sisters. With no access to sanitary products, she coped by using rags.

和埃塞俄比亞北部的大多數(shù)女孩一樣，她默默承受著痛苦，從未對母親或姐妹提起。由于沒有衛(wèi)生用品，她只能用破布對付。

"One time I had an accident in class and I was so scared and ashamed," said Mebrahtu, now 54. "Even today I remember how I felt."

現(xiàn)年54歲的梅布拉圖說:“有一次我在課堂上來了例假，我非常害怕和羞愧。“直到今天我還記得當(dāng)時(shí)的感受。”

Mebrahtu went on to study chemical engineering in the United States. She still remembers her first trip to an American drugstore in 1983.

梅布拉圖在美國繼續(xù)學(xué)習(xí)化學(xué)工程。她仍然記得1983年第一次去美國藥店的情景。

In Ethiopia -- and many other parts of the world -- menstruation is still considered taboo. According to UNICEF, the subject is generally not taught in schools and most girls never discuss it with another person.

在埃塞俄比亞和世界上許多其他地方，月經(jīng)仍然被認(rèn)為是禁忌。據(jù)聯(lián)合國兒童基金會稱，學(xué)校一般不教這個(gè)話題，大多數(shù)女孩也從不與他人討論。

Disposable sanitary products are very expensive and often unavailable, so nearly 75% of Ethiopian women and girls don't have access to the menstrual supplies they need to manage their periods.

一次性衛(wèi)生用品非常昂貴，而且經(jīng)常無法獲得，因此，近75%的埃塞俄比亞婦女和女童無法獲得經(jīng)期所需的月經(jīng)用品。

The situation has serious consequences. On average, one in 10 girls in Ethiopia miss school for reasons related to their periods; in some rural areas, this increases almost 50%. Missing school can lead girls to fall behind in class and eventually drop out.

這種情況有嚴(yán)重的后果。在埃塞俄比亞，平均每10個(gè)女孩中就有1個(gè)因月經(jīng)原因缺課;在一些農(nóng)村地區(qū)，這幾乎增加了50%。缺課會導(dǎo)致女孩在課堂上落后，最終輟學(xué)。

Mebrahtu believes no girl should miss school because of her period.

梅布拉圖認(rèn)為任何女孩都不應(yīng)該因?yàn)榻?jīng)期而缺課。

In 2005, she designed and patented a reusable menstrual pad. Today, she and her team produce 750,000 pads a year at her Mariam Seba Sanitary Products Factory, named for her daughter.

2005年，她設(shè)計(jì)了一種可重復(fù)使用的月經(jīng)墊，并申請了專利。如今，她和她的團(tuán)隊(duì)每年在她以女兒名字命名的瑪麗亞姆塞巴衛(wèi)生制品廠生產(chǎn)75萬個(gè)衛(wèi)生巾。

Since 2009, nearly 800,000 girls and women have benefited from her work.

自2009年以來，近80萬女童和婦女受益于她的工作。

Traditionally, girls have used rags or dry grasses to deal with their period. Mebrahtu's pads are fully washable, with an absorbent cotton lining and waterproof backing. They are secured to the underwear with a button.

傳統(tǒng)上，女孩會用破布或干草來處理月經(jīng)。梅布拉圖的衛(wèi)生巾可完全清洗，有吸水棉襯里和防水襯墊。它們用一個(gè)紐扣固定在內(nèi)褲上。

The pads cost 90% less than a year's worth of disposable pads and can last up to two years with proper care, making them environmentally friendly.

這種衛(wèi)生巾的成本比一次性衛(wèi)生巾低90%，在適當(dāng)?shù)淖o(hù)理下可以使用兩年，對環(huán)境非常友好。

More than 80% of the pads she manufactures are sold to non-governmental organizations that distribute them for free.

她生產(chǎn)的衛(wèi)生巾80%以上都賣給了非政府組織，這些組織免費(fèi)發(fā)放衛(wèi)生巾。

Mebrahtu also worked for years to end the stigma around this issue by speaking to students at schools.

梅布拉圖多年來一直致力于通過對學(xué)校學(xué)生的演講來消除人們對這一問題的偏見。

"The whole goal was not only making the pads, but also attacking the cultural baggage to it," she said. "But it was very limited, because it was just me working on my own."

她說:“我們的整體目標(biāo)不僅是生產(chǎn)衛(wèi)生巾，還要打擊其中的文化包袱。”“但這是非常有限的，因?yàn)橹挥形乙粋€(gè)人在工作。”

That changed when she met Dr. Lewis Wall, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology from the US. He was greatly impressed with how much she was doing and in 2014, he and his wife created a nonprofit, Dignity Period, to support her work.

當(dāng)她遇到來自美國的婦產(chǎn)科教授劉易斯·沃爾博士時(shí)，情況發(fā)生了變化。她所做的工作給他留下了深刻的印象。2014年，他和妻子創(chuàng)建了一個(gè)名為“尊嚴(yán)時(shí)期”的非營利組織，以支持她的工作。

Now, in partnership with Mekelle University, the organization has greatly expanded Mebrahtu's efforts. To date, the group has conducted educational workshops for more than 300,000 students, teaching girls that menstruation is natural, not shameful. Mebrahtu speaks at these events occasionally and enjoys seeing thousands of students receiving this message.

現(xiàn)在，通過與梅克爾大學(xué)的合作，該組織大大擴(kuò)展了Mebrahtu的努力。迄今為止，該組織已經(jīng)為30多萬名學(xué)生舉辦了教育研討會，教導(dǎo)女孩月經(jīng)是自然的，不是可恥的。梅布拉圖偶爾會在這些活動中發(fā)言，并樂于看到成千上萬的學(xué)生收到這樣的信息。