The Young Woman Leaders Network(YWLN) team visited the Golden Mission School at Newtown , Accra on 27th February 2019, to engage the young girls on menstrual hygiene management and other related matters.
The President of the YWLN, Ms. Hajar Osman Diko, in her opening address , said this engagement was part of the YWLN mandate aimed at educating, empowering and supporting the girl child.
The YWLN Health coordinator who is also a certified Midwife MS. Laila took the girls through menstrual hygiene and it importance in life of every woman. She explained that understanding menstrual hygiene enables girls and women to attain the fullest potential of life.
Speaking to the girls, Laila, elaborated the function of the female genital parts and the role each part play .She defined menstrual cycle as the first day of ones current menstruation period to the first day of one’s next menstruation period.
She demonstrated to them how to fix a sanitary pad on a pant, how to removed it. “You should first wash your hands with running water and soap. Make sure your fingers/hand do not touch the inner part of the pad when fixing it and after removing it”, she stressed.
Mr. Amadu Muhammed, the Director of Achievers Ghana who was the guest speaker entreated the young girls to be focus, bold and determined in life. He also advised them not to be intimidated by anyone to achieve their dreams.
The Deputy PRO of YWLN, Ms. Zulaiha, urged the girls to save as little as 20 pesewa daily .This, she said would enable them to buy a pad and related items on their own.
The Head teacher of the school expressed his gratitude towards the network’s visit and mentioned the team is always welcome to their premises.
Each girl was given a gift of sanitary pad and some selected girls who were very interactive got themselves a savings box.
The Menstrual Hygiene Management Project is one of the initiative of the YWLN and is aimed at educating 10,000 girls on comprehensive menstrual hygiene knowledge, improving school attendance among girls between 10-15 years in school, creating awareness of teenage pregnancies and other sexual related diseases and also increase their self esteem. Some of the girls, the YWLN interacted with expressed satisfaction about the engagement, saying it has exposed them to some of the issues related to menstruation , which they were not aware of.