Zimbabwe’s girls rely on rags, paper and leaves as sanitary wear is getting more expensive
When her monthly period comes, 17-year-old Maria Chaodza dismantles a home-madepillowcase and picks out pieces of its wornstuffing – an old, cloth rug – which she uses in place of the sanitary pad she cannot afford. Menstruation means missing school; Chaodza feels too ashamed of her makeshift pad to show her face as she battles days of heavy bleeding. Neither her parents, who are peasant farmers in Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland West Province in Makonde rural district, nor her boyfriend in the village can afford to buy her sanitary wear.
With many schoolgirls too poor to buy the sort of basic products most teens take for granted, they rely on teachers’ donations, torn strips of cloth, plants and old newspapers. In February this year, hundreds of girls and women gathered in the capital for a march dubbed „Happy Flow Campaign“ to demand more affordable sanitary wear. First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa has distributed free sanitary pads to poor women and girls, and hopes are now rising that this year’s elections might yet ease the crisis. Until then, handouts and ersatz pads will have to do.
Along with the rural teachers, civil society groups such as the Youth Dialogue Action Network have stepped in to help. „We have managed to raise resources to get sanitary wear for the poor women and girls, especially in rural areas. Sanitary wear is a big challenge to them because most families here live on less than $1 a day,“ its director Catherine Mkwapati told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. It costs the equivalent of $5 to buy one standard packet of pads in Zimbabwe, way beyond the reach of many families. It cost just $1 in 2015, before the nation’s economic crisis worsened. With average earnings per head of $253 a month, most families would rather spend $5 on a standard 20 kg bag of maize.
Even for grown women like 37-year-old Tracy Hungwe, who lives in the same rural district as Maria Chaodza, so-called period poverty has become a repeated monthly problem. „I share a little torn towel with my 16-year-old daughter during our menstruation because buying actual sanitary wear from shops is very expensive,“ Tracy told Thomson Reuters Foundation. „And even if they become cheaper, we have no money.“
Yet with two years of cash shortages worsening in this southern African nation, pads have only grown more expensive. Companies such as Clovit Investments – which used to manufacture sanitary pads in Zimbabwe – ceased operations four years ago, so pads are now imported from neighbouring countries like South Africa, boosting prices.
JEFFREY MOYO
Text pochází z agentury Reuters Zdroj LN
SLOVÍČKA
period menstruace
rag hadr
dismantle rozebrat
pillowcase polštář (povlak)
worn opotřebovaný
stuffing výplň, vycpávka
sanitary pad menstruační vložka
ashamed stydící se, zahanbený
makeshift provizorní, nouzový
bleed krvácet
peasant venkovský
take for granted brát jako samozřejmost
tear roztrhat
strip pruh, pás
dub pojmenovat, titulovat
rise růst
ersatz náhražkový
step in vložit se do
raise zvednout, zvýšit
beyond the reach mimo dosah
maize kukuřice
poverty chudoba
actual skutečný
shortage nedostatek
cease operation ukončit provoz
boost zvyšovat
NAUČTE SE GRAMATIKU PODLE TEXTU
Dnes se budeme věnovat dvěma slovíčkům, která do češtiny přeložíme stejně, v angličtině je však mezi nimi rozdíl. Jedná se o české jako, které v angličtině zní like nebo as. Jedno z nich se objevilo ve větě „… pads are now imported from neighbouring countries like South Africa…“ („… vložky se dnes dovážejí ze sousedních zemí jako Jižní Afrika…“). V našem kontextu se jedná o jako například. Zatímco výraz like použijeme, když mluvíme o podobě, as slouží k popisu funkce(věci nebo člověka): He works as a vet. (Pracuje jako veterinář.) He looks just like his father. (Vypadá přesně jako jeho otec.)
VYBERTE SPRÁVNÝ VÝRAZ:
As/like a child I used to do a lot of afterschool activities. Despite his age, he behaves as/like a little child. He was selected as/like the captain of the team.
Řešení: as / like / as