2 Schools receive hygiene materials
The Rotary Club of Accra North and the Rotaract Club of Adenta have presented a quantity of sanitary pads to two basic schools in the Ga West Municipality in the Greater Accra Region.
The schools are the Ayina Memorial Municipal Assembly Basic School and the Balagono Basic School.
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The learners were also educated on maintaining a healthy lifestyle during and after menstruation wthout panicking, feeling shy, avoiding or missing classes.
The president of the Rotary Club of Accra North, Ms Gloria Awurabena Yawson, presented the items on behalf of the two clubs and said the gesture was aimed at promoting menstrual hygiene among rural school girls and to empower the girl child.
She noted that the global economic downturn, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, had hit rural people so hard that many families could barely afford the basic necessities of life.
She said the situation had affected the girl child the more because of her peculiar needs for supplies during menstrual periods.
Resources, hygiene materials
“When it is becoming very hard for parents to provide for the basic needs of their children, especially in the rural areas and low income families, you begin to wonder what happens when their children start menstruating and need sanitary pads and care.
“That is why we in the Rotary Club of Accra North and the Rotaract Club of Adenta have come here today to talk to you about menstrual hygiene and to give you sanitary pads so you can use them during your menstruation,” Ms Yawson said.
She noted that menstruation was not a sickness but a sign of puberty in a girl child, and advised the learners to always confide in their parents or guardians when they started seeing changes in their bodies.
She also encouraged the learners not to use rags, tissues and other unhygienic materials during their menstrual periods so they would not expose themselves to infections
Appreciation
The school’s Assistant Headteacher, Mr Jacob Tagbor, thanked the Rotary Club and its affiliate for the gesture.
He said poverty was a major cause of concern for the school, adding that many girls stayed away from classes because they could not afford sanitary pads.
“We are very grateful to the benefactors because this is not the first time they are here. They were here in 2019. They were here in 2020 to donate dual desks to the school. In June, they came here and donated a computer set, text books, exercise books and writing materials to our learners,” he said.
The school, established in 1984 by the government, presently has 320 learners, with almost half of the number being girls.
“Rotary has been our backbone since 2019. We are very grateful to them,” Mr Tagbor said.
