Two NGOs support school girls in Tema region
• Mr. Derick Mintah (right) presenting the package to Ms Hammond
About 2,000 girls from 25 basic schools in the Greater Accra Region were beneficiaries of a recent sanitary pad distribution initiative by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Share Foundation and Rymas International.
Ms. Lilly Mintah one of the founders of the organisation, said risks and challenges of adolescent reproductive health could impact negatively on school attendance and academic performance, hence the move to support the teenage girls.
She expressed worry over hike in prices of the essential product and asked the appropriate authories to intervene, and make them affordable to the girls.
The girls were selected from schools mainly in Tema, including Tetteh Ocloo School for the Deaf in Ashaiman and the Seventh Day Adventist School in Nungua.
Ms Mintah, passionate about adolescent reproductive health, said young girls must not “fall prey to unscrupulous men” because they could not afford basic necessities.
At the Tema Metropolitan Assembly ‘One’ Basic school where the exercise was climaxed, the Girl Child Coordinator of the school, Mavis Hammond, praised the initiative saying it would help boost the confidence of girls as they study.
She said constant communication and information on adolescent sexual reproductive health would help allay their “fear and anxiety” among teenagers.
From Ken Afedzi, Tema
