Tilly-Perez Foundation gives to Appiatse explosion victims, appeals for critical support
Tilly-Perez Foundation, a non-governmental organization in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality of the Western Region has called for special attention to adolescents and women among the displaced in the Appiatse explosion.
The Foundation made the appeal after donating boxes of sanitary pads, carbolic soap, dozens of undergarments, as well as new and used clothes to the displaced victims of the tragic explosion in the Western regional community.
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According to the NGO, as most donations to support the affected focused on clothing and food, it was critical not to forget that girls and women among them also have peculiar needs.
Victims’ needs
Speaking after presenting the items, President of the Foundation, Mrs. Matilda Adamah said unfortunate and unexpected as disasters are, everybody especially adolescents and women are very ill-prepared for it.
She said it is important for society to know that women, unlike most men, need to change underwear very frequently. She said it is the reason why as people responded to calls for support by providing more clothes and food, “We considered something equally critical beyond food and outer garments to protect our women.”
“Even though the NGO is not exclusively females, the first on the agenda while discussing what to do to help the situation was the issue of women who may menstruate hence the need to cover that gap,” Mrs. Adamah said.
The emergencies
“Much as we are focused on ensuring that there is enough food for the people, society must not forget other basic needs of our women – they did not have the chance to pick pads or their savings to enable them to walk to the shop and get a pad,” she said.
Mrs. Adamah said Perez Foundation thought that providing sanitary napkins for the women was critical to help them go about their tasks and especially during the current situation of being confined, displaced from home and away normal life, and without regular supplies.
She said personal hygiene for the girls and women was critical and no amount of sanitary supplies was enough, especially under the circumstances.
“We have distributed some and handed the rest to the management of the facility and our next thing is to see to how best to educate them on their hygiene – that would take them through the use and disposal of the used pads in the environment they find themselves,” she said.
She said in the recent past, Perez Foundation partnered with other organisations to support children during festive occasions and special moments, and supported causes geared towards children’s education, adding, “We have been doing that for the past 11-years.”
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Perez Foundation, Mrs. Adamah said, is taking care of six girls ready to enroll in skills training and another in university.
The Director of National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) of the Prestea Huni-Valley Municipality, Mr. Francis Abeiku Yankah commended the NGO for the support.
“This unfortunate situation could not have been contained without the support from organisations such as Perez Foundation – your support for the needs of the people are very unique and very important,” he said and appealed to other members of the business community and the larger society to ensure fast rehabilitation of the affected people to ease their plight.