By Edzorna Francis Mensah
About five thousand (5000) girls to be drawn from about five regions, Greater Accra, Central Volta, Ashanti, and Eastern Regions of Ghana are expected to benefit from free sanitary pads to be distributed by Touching The Lives of Girls Foundation International in collaboration with Melcom Group of Companies on this year’s World Menstrual Hygiene Day.
Sonya Sadhwani, Director of Brand Management at Melcom together with Guinness Ghana Breweries PLC presented a total of One Hundred And Sixty Four (165) cartons of sanitary pads and Eighty Four (84) cartons of soft drinks to the President of the NGO, Touching The Lives of Girls Foundation, Nana Ama Adutwumwaa in Accra on 23rd May 2022.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Director of Communications, Godwin Avenorgbo notes that, World Menstrual Hygiene Day has become a major act on the Melcom Care Foundation Calendar of Events, “because the woman is the Mother of our Nation and quality reproductive health is critical in the attainment of the goal of qualitative child upbringing and Family Life”.
According to him, presenting the items ahead of World Menstrual Hygiene Day celebrations goes to demonstrate their support for needy female school-going pupils in the first cycle and students in the second cycle of Ghana’s Education System in the regular care of menstrual hygiene practices which are unavoidable for the protection of female reproductive health.
He said, Melcom Care is committed to providing support for initiatives that are geared towards meeting the critical needs of Ghanaians living everywhere in our country and he maintained that “we will work with NGOs which demonstrate credibility and specialization in their chosen line of operation and we invite well-meaning individuals and institutions of credible standing as good corporate citizens to join us as partners so we can reach as many needy people as possible”.
Mr. Avenorgbo revealed that, “figures available to Melcom Care indicate that there are about 4.5 million girls in school from basic to Senior High School. This number is made up of about 560,788 girls in Public Senior High Schools and over 41,514 girls in Private Senior High Schools. These numbers are quoted only as a sample to give a bird’s eye view of the gargantuan task of helping to maintain menstrual hygiene in our school-going female population where the majority of girls come from very poor homes and many are not sure of whether they can have a meal after school before going to bed”.
As part of the celebration, Guinness Ghana Breweries PLC will join hands with Melcom Care to support Touching The Lives of Girls Foundation to hold seminars at the following venues: Methodist Church, Abura Dunkwa-Central Region, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi-Ashanti Region, Somey SHS, Agbozume-Volta Region, GNAT HALL, Koforidua-Eastern Region and Archbishop Porter Girls School, Sekondi-Western Region.
Godwin Avenorgbo stressed the point that “these Seminars will be addressed by Medical Experts, Educationists, Police Officers, Queen Mothers, and Corporate Personalities and each of the over 5,000 girls in attendance will benefit from the supply of Sanitary Pads in commemoration of World Menstrual Hygiene Day”.
President and founder of Touching The Lives of Girls Foundation International, Nana Ama Adutwumwaa was grateful to Melcom for the support and called on the co-operate bodies to help in order to keep girl child at school even during the menstrual cycles
Touching The Lives of Girls Foundation International is a non-governmental organization that believes that with the right education and support, the girl child has the potential to lift an entire family out of poverty and that a generation of educated girls has the power to change family, community, and society as a whole.
It takes a genuine approach on the ground to developing integrated solutions to the complex issues of gender equality and health.
The Girl Child Project is an initiative of Touching the Lives of Girls Foundation (TGLF) designed to educate and enforce hygienic practices among adolescent females thereby reducing school absenteeism during menstrual cycles. The main objective of the project is to create awareness about female menstrual hygiene and provide free sanitary pads to beneficiaries.
“Women who are knowledgeable about menstrual hygiene and safe practices are less vulnerable to RTI and its consequences. Therefore, increased knowledge about menstruation right from childhood may help in safe practices and mitigating the suffering of millions of women”- TGLF.
