For the next five months, all female students at the Reverend Cobbah Yalley and Nana Brempong Yaw Junior High Schools will not have to worry about where to get money to purchase a sanitary pad.
This is because Virtuous Boardroom, a grouping of female professionals drawn from diverse backgrounds, has bought sanitary pads for all 337 female students to use for May to September.
This forms part of the group’s effort to support the girl-child manage menstruation safely and hygienically on the occasion of Menstrual Hygiene Day.
Globally, May 28 is observed annually as Menstrual Hygiene Day to create awareness and highlight the importance of menstrual hygiene management.
According to WHO, hundreds of millions of girls and women around the world are menstruating, yet a substantial proportion of them lack the knowledge and means to manage their menstrual health safely and with dignity.
President and CEO of Virtuous Boardroom Yaa Amoako-Adu described as regrettable that the adolescent female child still faces grave challenges in managing menstruation.
“It is happening that a good number of our adolescent girls are using very unconventional methods to protect themselves during menstruation. It’s even scary to hear from girls what they do when it is their first time. We need to talk about menstrual hygiene because many girls are getting infections because they are either naïve or do not have the means to buy sanitary pads.”
She further stated that “it is unconscionable for the girl child to stop school because she was not able to get GH¢1.80 to buy sanitary pad and thereby is not able to achieve her life dream”.
“We need to have a means to constantly make the girl child aware of the body changes. To let them be aware that these changes are inevitable and support them to face the changes with confidence and without shame”.
The female students applauded Virtuous Boardroom for the sanitary pads.
“We are aware that some of our colleagues are struggling with the management of their menstrual hygiene. I believe that these sanitary pads and the education we have received today [Friday, May 28, 2021] can help us overcome the psychological trauma associated with menstruation,” Sarah Hagan a beneficiary said.
By Eric Yaw Adjei|3news.com|Ghana