When I was in primary school we had representatives from Johnson & Johnson come through to our schools and give us the talk about menstruation and menstrual cycles.

So we would walk into the hall and right in your face is this huge dummy of the female reproductive system. Giggles and gasps would be the sound accompanying the shuffling of feet as we would seat on the floor.

What would follow was a lesson that I would remember for the rest of my life. This lady dressed so eloquently, speaking so calmly with a smile on her face taught us about embracing this phase of our lives that I was so ill informed about.

After the low down on how to use OB’s (demonstrated using the dummy) how to wear pads, PMS the entire shebang we felt empowered. And we got a goody bag, she called it a “start kit.” It had a pad, a tampon, a calendar and an all you need to know FYI pamphlet in-case we forgot anything.

My “start kit” stayed in my school bag. I never left it at home because this nice lady said any day anytime Aunt Flo would visit. To say I was excited was an understatement which is so different from my current reality lol, excitement come back my long lost lover.

This is now just a memory that I relive all alone. The Johnson & Johnson that we grew up on no longer has operations in Zimbabwe which means there are no nice ladies giving the talk to little girls anymore. I always remember this nice lady because she is the only person who had this talk with me. We grew up on Johnson’s cosmetic products from babies to adults. I would like to think they were affordable cause my mum bought them looool

Anyway to cut this long story short, I want to be this nice lady. I want to work with a brand that would allow me to give this talk with little girls. Let’s be honest, we are living in a society where children are being raised by non resident parents. Parents who are hustling to give their children a better life than they had but in the process are not emotionally available.

There is a specific group of young girls I want to work with. Young girls who are deaf. I recently started learning sign language and it has been amazing learning this new language. As I am learning the language and the culture my eyes are being opened to my privilege. The privilege of being able to communicate in a universal language that anyone can understand regardless of my accent vice versa.

I have been introduced to young girls who know nothing about menstruation in this day and age, ladies who are not able to get the proper family planning plan that works for them, ladies who can not get tested for their HIV status because in as much as sign language is recognised as a language in the constitution of Zimbabwe, no-one seems to be able to communicate with them. Let me not get ahead of myself I’ll cover this later. This is why I want to work with them, they have been so marginalised society assumes they are informed or someone is informing them. I think this is how I will build my legacy.

As Uncle B said “If there’s a brand you want to work with and they seem inaccessible to you, perhaps you should become the brand you want to work with”

I am the brand that is going to work with these girls.

I am the brand they have been waiting for.

I am the brand I have been waiting for.

• brands
• disability
• johnson & johnson
• menstruation
• sign language
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