NGO Conducts Menstrual Hygiene Awareness For School Girls In Plateau  

An NGO, Women and Girls Initiative for Positive Change, has organised outreaches on menstrual hygiene in some public schools in Plateau.

This was disclosed by Rifkatu Bello, the Executive Director of the organisation,  in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Friday in Jos.

She said the initiative also donated about 640 packs of sanitary pads to young girls.

Bello said the health talk, which also included sex education, was anchored by a medical team in the four schools visited by the organisation

“Our first outing this year was at Government Secondary School Lamingo, where we had a pre-menstruation talk on what to expect during menstruation and how to go about it.

“We also engaged the boys on the importance of support for girls during their periods,” she said.

According to her,  the boys were engaged because they often reacted inappropriately when girls got stained, saying “boys tend to laugh and social stigmatise girls when they get stained.

“We said these things are normal, and we ought to talk about it with them to make them better husbands, brothers and parents,” she said.

She said about 200 girls were reached during the school visit, which was also replicated in Government Secondary School Heipang, Government Secondary School Kaduna and Government College Foron.

“Our campaign is to reach out to 1000 girls this year, and we are close to that. We have 400 to 500 packs of pads to distribute before the year runs out.

“One of the major concerns for us as an organisation is being able to proffer a sustainable development plan for sustainable change.

“What we intend to do further is to train a few students from the schools, and some women in the communities, on how to make reusable sanitary pads to address the lack of sanitary products,” she said.

She added that the health talk also included the hazards of improper disposal of sanitary pads in the environment, and how to address the situation.

Similarly, Girls Education Mission (GEM) International, in commemoration of the World Menstrual Hygiene Day, distributed no fewer than 100 packs of sanitary pads to 80 girls at Government Secondary School Hwolshe, where they also conducted menstrual hygiene management awareness.