Crisis in Lebanon: rags to replace hygienic towels
AdvertisingIt is new proof of a daily life that has become impossible for Lebanese.Between economic collapse and inflation, darling can no longer afford to buy hygienic towels.Each month, when she has her period, the young mother thus uses old rags, even her baby's diapers.
""At the beginning, I had to verify that my pants were not stained,"" she admits, evoking the difficulties in adapting to this new economic precariousness which upsets until its intimacy.
""With the high prices and the anger I feel, I am to the point where I would prefer not to have my period,"" deplores this 28 -year -old woman.
When the price of the hygienic towels she bought before the crisis increased, Cherine tried to find a more affordable brand.The new towels gave him allergies.
>> À voir : Liban : entre pénuries et dépréciation de la monnaie, les Libanais sombrent dans la pauvreté
With the depreciation of the Lebanese book that nothing seems to stop, the new prices on the shelves that adapt to the exchange rate on the black market and wages that do not follow, even the ordinary cheap brands are inaccessible.
The prices of hygienic towels have often quintuple.Depending on the brands, the packages which once cost less than 3,000 pounds - or two dollars - are sold today between 13,000 and 34,000 pounds.
Chérine got a reason and prefers to ensure the needs of her little girl for a few months: ""I prefer to buy her milk, I can bear.""
She would never have thought that one day, she would use the diapers of her little one for herself, which she obtains thanks to donations. ""Je coupe la couche en deux, comme ça, ça me fait deux utilisations, surtout quand je sors"", raconte-t-elle. ""J'utilise des serviettes, des bouts de tissus"".
Galloping inflation
Chérine also gave up analgesics which relieved the pain of the first days of rules. Des économies, ""au cas où ma fille a besoin de quelque chose"".
Economic collapse has plunged Lebanon into large -scale impoverishment: 55 % of the population now lives below the poverty line according to the UN.The daily is marked by serious shortages, in particular drugs.
Hyperinflation is still likely to worsen: to compensate for the melting of reserves in foreign currencies, the authorities seek to reduce subsidies which, in fact, are no longer enough to curb the vertiginous increase in the prices of certain products, such as flouror fuels.
In any case, the leaders never saw fit to include hygienic towels in the lists of subsidized products.
Dans la boutique ""Tenue de fête"" à Beyrouth, qui offre gratuitement des vêtements usagés et des aides alimentaires aux plus démunis, Izdihar avoue ne plus pouvoir payer des serviettes hygiéniques pour elle ou ses trois adolescentes, dont l'aînée a 14 ans.
""Parfois je prends des couches pour bébé ici, au magasin"", raconte cette employée de la boutique, précisant que sa benjamine vient d'avoir ses premières règles.
The 12 -year -old constantly repeats not knowing how to use layers or fabrics. ""Cela l'affecte psychologiquement, quand elle a ses règles, elle ne sort plus de la maison"", ajoute-t-elle.
Solidarity
To support women, several initiatives have been launched.
""Dawrati"" (""Mon cycle"") veut lutter contre la ""pauvreté menstruelle"" et distribue des paniers féminins contenant des serviettes hygiéniques aux plus démunies, explique la cofondatrice de ce projet, Line Tabet Masri.
Families or students who once offered hygienic towels can no longer afford themselves, she explains.
L'équipe est sollicitée par ""des femmes de la classe moyenne"", ajoute-t-elle. ""Nous ne sommes pas en mesure de répondre à toutes les demandes car les dons ont considérablement diminué"".
In the Chatila camp in Beirut, Palestinian refugees in Syria learn to make hygienic tissue towels, reusable.
Ce projet est le fruit de la collaboration entre l'ONG ""Days for Girls"" et l'association locale WingWoman Lebanon, qui vont distribuer ces serviettes dans des régions défavorisées comme le Akkar (nord) ou dans des camps de réfugiés.
Rima Ali is one of the budding seamstresses.She and her three daughters also use these new towels, after buying, for years, the cheapest products.
The Lebanese crisis woke up the memories of the bloody conflict in Syria in the forties, which she fled nine years ago.
""We lived in difficult conditions. Nous découpions de vieux vêtements et les utilisions"" en guise de serviettes hygiéniques.I did not expect to relive this same scenario today "".
With AFP
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