Believe me, Exams Were Not the Worst Part of School

“I was completely mortified and I didn’t know what to do!”

The story of my first period is actually quite embarrassing, I think that's why it's stuck with me for so long. I think I was in grade 7 or 8 (can't recall exactly which one) and I was in a co-ed school. It came during the week of exams. The protocol was that once you were done writing your exam, you had to get up and take your exam to the teacher at the front of the class. I have to stop here and mention that, my flow was very, very heavy during the first few years. When I stood up to hand in my exam, I saw a pool of blood on my chair. The pad I had on had clearly failed me. I quickly sat back down, not sure if anyone around me had noticed the obvious stain on my uniform or the blood on my chair. I was completely mortified and I didn't know what to do! I remember sweating, trying to figure out how I was going to hand in my exam and get out of class with some dignity. I was a teenage girl, already self-conscious about my body and “now this!”.

After what literally felt like hours, one girl stood up and was going to hand in her exam. I asked her if she could take mine as well, and only after giving me a wicked side eye, she said yes and took my exam paper to the front. That was one problem solved, but I still had to leave the classroom without anyone noticing the huge blood stain on my uniform, let alone the small pool of blood on the chair.

“I was terrified of the same thing happening again”

Once the class was done, it was customary to stand as the teacher left the room. Obviously, in my state, there is no way I could stand up and I couldn't explain my situation to the male teacher out of sheer embarrassment. When everyone had handed in their exam papers and the teacher got up to leave the classroom, only I remained sitting down. I got written up for disciplinary action but at least I was not forced to stand up in front of the classroom with my blood stain. Once the teacher was outside the classroom and most students had left, I asked a friend to hand me my sweater, which I tied around my waist to cover the stain. I got some napkins to wipe my seat and dealt with the rest when I got home. From that day on, every time I got my period, I was terrified of the same thing happening again. I think as I got older, my flow gradually decreased or maybe I just got better at managing it, I don't know.

Although by that time, Kenya had sex education being taught in primary schools, it didn't really talk too much about what to do when you get your period. The focus of the education was on the science behind it and not on what girls and women had to do when their period arrived. To be quite honest, most of what I learned about how to take care of myself during my period, came from television commercials.

At the time I got my period, my parents were separated and I grew up in a house full of boys. It was weird having to go out and buy pads with my dad.  My mum was still around but we didn't live together so I didn't feel like I had anyone to really talk to.

Khadija, 32

Kenya