Student journalists at UIUC and Fourah Bay College team up to cover period poverty in Sierra Leone
University of Illinois student journalists interviewed Mariatu Yateh (left), the principal of Education for All, a school in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Students (left to right): Faith Lee, Nour Longi, Maggie Knutte, Elena Cleary. Alison Davis/University of Illinois
A team of journalists from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recently traveled to Sierra Leone to report on the global phenomenon of period poverty.
Women and girls around the world often lack access to the products or the education they need to manage their periods properly. This can lead to shame surrounding menstruation and can keep girls out of school during their periods. But some in Sierra Leone are working to change that.
The U of I students worked alongside Sierra Leonean students from Forah Bay College in Freetown, the nation’s capital. The reporting team is working on creating a documentary film on the topic.
IPM Newsroom's Morning Edition host Kimberly Schofield spoke with UIUC juniors Nour Longi and Maggie Knutte about their experience.