Ensure proper health education programs in schools - Lady Julia

A new book from the stables of Adwinsa Publications Ghana Limited entitled; “Abrefi’s Red Letter Day” which narrates and illustrates a natural phenomenon, Menstruation in the adolescent girl, which is mostly not spoken about, has been launched with a call on parents, guardians and teachers to educate the girl child on it as far as their growth is concern.

It shows that menstrual cycle temperaments and signs may well play a vital role in the academic performance of female adolescents and hence the need to speak to these girls on the issues that affect their lives.

The book, which discusses the transition from childhood to adulthood, has its setting around a young girl, Abrefi in her adolescent period which is characterized by major biological changes like physical growth, sexual maturation and psycho-social development.

During this stage of growth, Abrefi first experienced menstruation and related problems which is marked by feelings of anxiety and eagerness to know more about this phenomenon and the inconveniences she had to go through at the first time.

The book, Abrefi’s Red Letter Day” is described by many as user friendly manuscript that can assist young girls who are anxious about puberty.

It is also a guide for parents who find difficulty in explaining such matters to their girl child.

Doing the launch of this amazing and educative piece of work from contributors including Leticia Amankwa, Victoria Adobea Mensah, Florence Newman and Patience Obeng-Manu, the Adwinsa Publications Ghana Limited, Her Royal Highness, Lady Julia Osei-Tutu, the wife of the Asantehene, indicated that young girls do not get the appropriate knowledge on their menstrual cycle because of the lack of proper health education programs in schools.

She also espoused the difficulty some care givers have in opening up on these issues and talk about the event at the right time.

Her Royal Highness, Lady Julia Osei-Tutu stressed the problems of ignorance sterns from the beliefs by some traditional societies which regard such topics as taboos thereby discouraging open discussion on them.

“This often leads to a lot of mental stress where many girls seek health advice from persons who do not have the adequate knowledge on the subject,” she said.

She congratulated the ladies who contributed their stories, the consultant and Adwinsa Publications for the publication of the very insightful piece of work and recommended that the book be stocked in homes, schools and libraries to enable it be readily accessible to all.

The Guest Speaker for the occasion, Mrs. Emma Amoateng Mensah in speaking on theme “Girl-Child Education: Removing Every Barrier”, said, there are so many issues that affect girls but events show that nobody understands or cares, but some of these issues keep girls from attending school.

She stressed that Parents and guardians are all silent about menstruation, with teachers even trying to skip topics they are supposed to teach on menstruation, but indicated that menstrual cycle dispositions and symptoms may well play a role in the academic performance of female adolescents.

She therefore advised parents to take keen interest in their girl-child and their reproductive health issues, in order not to affect their educational progression.

“Teachers in schools, and parents in the home, should also begin to teach the children the various parts of their bodies, because girls are not taught about their bodies, there is an increase in teenage pregnancy,” she said.

Other speakers included Mrs. Aba Brew Hammond, a Senior lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and Mrs. Emma Amoateng Mensah, the regional girls’ education officer for Ashanti region all of whom find the book interesting and most educative for the girl child and the adventurous adolescent girl.

Adwinsa Publications Ltd., a leading Publishing house in Ghana and the Publisher of the book that was launched, donated some books to the Otumfuo Charity Foundation.