Girls receive free sanitary pads in Central Tongu district

More than seven hundred girls in Central Tongu district of the Volta region have received free sanitary pads.

The donation was made by a Volta based non-profit organisation called Emefa Foundation. The donation was done in line with this year's world Menstrual Hygiene Day.

This year's menstrual hygiene day is themed "Making menstruation normal fact of life by 2030".

The NGO led by its founder, Yvette Emefa Gbeve visited Bakpa, a farming and fishing community in the district on Sunday, May 28 where girls including single mothers were educated and empowered on menstrual hygiene.

Two hundred and fifty adolescent girls in the community received a pack of sanitary pad each.

Togbe Sakpiti V, a divisional chief of Bakpa at the event showed appreciation and thanked the team for the kind gesture.

He appealed to other benevolent people in society to come to their aid by giving regular education and support to adolescent girls in his community.

The team also visited Mafi Kumasi Senior High School where five hundred female students also benefited from the donation.

Central Tongu district education director, Happy Tsifokor addressing the girls on menstrual hygiene said "menstruation isn’t a wrong act but rather a season in a girl's life that indicates that you're a woman and hence needs to be taken as part of your normal life".

Yvette Emefa on her part said "There is a need for every girl child to accept themselves as they are and appreciate the fact that bleeding once a month is normal".

She encouraged girls to demystify all forms of stigmatisation attached to menstruation.

Assistant headmistress of the school, Theresa Baidoo appreciated the NGO for choosing Mafi-Kumase Senior High School for the initiative.

The students were educated on how to fix pads, observe health tips while menstruating and urged not to feel less of themselves.