You can download Idda’s story and headshot here. To contact Idda about an interview or speaking at an event please contact us.
Back 
Idda
Idda
Joseph
Being a champion involves facing your pain – and overcoming it.
@ Gates Archive/Jonathan Torgovnik
Idda
Joseph
Being a champion involves facing your pain – and overcoming it.
Idda's Story
I encountered the dangers of being misinformed about menstrual health. I now work at LifePackage solutions, ensuring all girls have access to sexual and reproductive health education and services.
I was lucky to survive several bouts of Malaria, and luckier still when my aunt agreed to let me live with her. However, without my mother to help guide me and no information or education available to me, I grew up unaware of the changes my body would go through during puberty. Curious about menstruation, I pretended my period started at 13 years old in the belief that I would then be given information about menstrual health and hygiene. Instead, my aunt just told me I had to stay home from school whilst menstruating.
Being a champion involves facing your pain – and overcoming it.
A year later, when my period did start, I was still none the wiser. Due to a lack of education about sanitary products and how to use them, safe disposal after use and how the menstrual cycle works, I soon fell ill with an infection and had to seek urgent medical treatment.
My experience has shaped my commitment to ensuring all girls have access to sexual and reproductive health education and services. I now work with LifePackage solutions, an organization that equips girls and young women with sexual and reproductive health education and ensures access to health services and products. My story seeks to remind us of the importance of SDGs 3 and 5, and the role of education for girls and young women so they understand – and have control over – their own bodies.
@ Gates Archive/Jonathan Torgovnik
Introduction to the 12
@ Gates Archive/Jonathan Torgovnik
SEE ALL
