Group distributes sanitary pads to girls in rural communities

By Christian Njoku

An NGO, Rare Elite Foundation, has distributed over 400 sanitary pads to school and community girls in Bekwarra Local Government Area of Cross River.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the initiative, which was titled ‘Pad a Girl Project’, took place in six secondary schools in four communities as an avenue to counsel rural girls on menstrual health and hygiene.

During the distribution in Gakem Ukpah Community Secondary School, in Gakem community, the founder of the group, Mrs. Ukeh Omang, said that the objective was to sensitise rural girls to menstrual hygiene.

Omang said apart from helping to prevent infections due to unhygienic menstrual lifestyles, the project also aimed at mitigating incidences where girls had to be absent from schools  because of menstruation.

She said that specific government policies were needed to promote girl-child menstrual hygiene and to keep them in school especially during their menstrual periods.

“In rural areas, girls do not have basic access to sanitary products, as many of them cannot afford sanitary pads for proper menstrual hygiene management.

“While sensitisation of adolescent girls on menstrual health is important, It will also be of great help if the government gives free sanitary pads to teenage girls in secondary schools.

“We need to demystify and make our young girls understand that menstruation is just a free flow of blood that is peculiar to women and nothing more,” she said.

She called on well meaning Nigerians and organizations to support the foundation to distribute more sanitary pads and train women to be financially independent.

Omang said that the gesture would be extended to other LGAs in the state.

One of the beneficiaries, Mary John, expressed satisfaction being one of those that benefitted from the exercise.

“In my community, many of the girls don’t use sanitary pads because they are expensive, so they use cloths, but with this, we will be able to use pads for a little while.

“Also, the foundation has promised to keep helping us with pads, so we will not go back to use cloths,” she said.

NAN reports that other schools that benefited from the initiative included Community Secondary School, Ukpah, St. Joseph Secondary School, Itekpa, Constant International School, Gakem, Community Secondary School, Nyanya and Community Secondary School, Afrike.

(NAN)