April 06, (THEWILL) – Rotary Club district 9141, in collaboration with Rotary Club of Yenagoa, Rotary Club Oxbow Lake, amongst others have organised a hygiene campaign to educate the girl child on menstrual hygiene and production of sanitary pads.
The hygiene management campaign which took place on Wednesday, is targeted at teenage female students of Winners International School, Agudama Yenagoa, to teach menstrual hygiene.
The female students were provided with materials for them to maintain and have good in depth knowledge on how to take care of themselves when growing up.
In his speech, Rotarian Obioma Obikeze, Assistant Governor, for Zone 13, and the Coordinator rotary district 9141, said ‘pad a girl project’ in Bayelsa is very important for awareness purposes.
The Coordinator, said that the mission for the pad a girl project is to teach the girl child on menstrual hygiene or best approach to menstrual hygiene, most importantly is to empower them to do it on their own.
Dr Obikeze, the Director Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Otuoke Outreach, said there are some circumstances that a girl has reached menstrual age and the parents may not be able to provide a sanitary pad for her.
According to him: “Those we train here today can make sanitary pads for themselves, it will be hygienic, adaptable to their size and serve a purpose in which it was created for.
“To enhance their knowledge on menstrual hygiene and also to empower them to make sanitary pads for themselves.
“This is for those who have started seeing their period or about to, but mainly is for secondary School girls”, said.
He urged the students to open their minds to learn and put them to practice as it will be beneficial to them.
On his part, the guest speaker, Mr Michael Udo, Team Member use of sanitary pad, said they are training the girls on how to design and use of sanitary pad and also to educate them on menstrual hygiene management.
He said most of the young girls are not yet aware, but with the enlightenment they now know how to go about it if it eventually comes.
Udo said the important thing to note is that they now have the information on time for them to be aware that such will surely come.
He said each programme covers close to 1,000 persons to learn and be educated on menstrual hygiene management.
According to him: “On a daily basis, most of the girls in the region are faced with issues regarding their menstrual hygiene, particularly those in the rural areas and urban slums.
“Regrettably, those who experience period poverty are unable to purchase the menstrual products they need, and, in many cases, this means that they cannot go to school or work or otherwise participate in daily life activities.
“Such situations can also result in physical, mental, and emotional challenges.
“It can make some of these girls feel ashamed of menstruating, and the stigma surrounding periods prevents them from talking about it.
It is against this backdrop that the Rotary International District 9141 has come up with a project, ‘Pad the Girl Child’ targeted at reaching out to 2000 young girls spread across Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta and Edo states which make up District 9141”, he stated.
On his part, Rotarian Uchenna Onyekaonwu, President RC Yenagoa Sunshine, said empowerment of the girl child is one of the seven areas of focus in Rotary International’s humanitarian and service projects.
He noted that the International President of Rotary Club has charged them with the responsibility of empowering the girl child, and that they in district 9141 decided to carry out the programme.
The President said the empowerment is cutting across all the zones, which comprises Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Rivers State, respectively.
He equally calls on parents to seize the opportunity to always look into their children when it comes to this period in their female children.
