KNUST’s ‘The Obaasima Project’ provides hands-on training to about 300 pupils in Poasi-New Takoradi

Menstruation and menstrual hygiene remain a challenge to many girls in Ghana. Statistics show a pressing need for investment and efforts to improve menstrual hygiene in Ghana, including access to menstrual products, education and awareness and improved sanitation facilities.

It is in this light that The Obaasima Project, an initiative led by eight students of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), recently provided hands-on training to selected students in Poasi-New Takoradi.

About 300 pupils of Nana Baidoo Bonsoe and Methodist Basic School, both at Poasi, received extensive training in the making of reusable pads and detergents. They were also educated on good menstrual hygiene.

The team further distributed about 250 pieces of reusable sanitation pads, 5 boxes of an 80 pieced paper towel, 250 exercise books and pens as well as other educative materials and souvenirs among the pupils.

It facilitated the registration of 100 pupils (58% female) onto the National Health Insurance Scheme and also formed a 10-member Obaasima Club in the schools to serve as peer educators on menstrual hygiene and other health-related issues.

The Obaasima Project is essentially a menstrual health and hygiene drive to reduce menstrual poverty among girls in deprived areas. This is an important component of promoting gender equality, ensuring access to education and health and achieving several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations. This project is a requirement for MSc.

Development Management by the Institute of Distance Learning (IDL) where team members are expected to identify and undertake a Social Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy (SEAP) project in their society.