The Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has organized Menstrual Hygiene Day at Kuliya in the Kassena- Nankana West District with a call on the Ministry of Education to integrate Menstrual Hygiene Education into the national school curriculum.
Mr Charles Obeng Appiah, the Community Mobilization Specialist of CRS, who made the call said the integration of Menstrual Hygiene Education into the school curriculum would not only empower girls to take good care of themselves but would curb absenteeism due to the discomfort and shame some girls feel during that period.
He said to help contribute to the wellbeing of girls and women, the CRS with funding from the Helmsley Charitable Trust with a total grant award of 4. 3million US dollars was working on a project called, “I SHINE Project” , to improve the health status of over 122,000 school children and people from six districts.
The districts are, East Mamprusi, West Mamprusi and Mamprugu Moaduri in the Northern Region and Talensi, Nabdam and the Kassena-West Districts in the Upper East Region.
He said apart CRS using Behaviour Change Communication materials including topics to promote Menstrual Hygiene, the I-SHINE project had constructed 142 gender disability –friendly latrines in 138 schools to ensure girls were comfortable to stay at school.
The District Chief for the area, Mr Clement Dandori, commended CRS for complementing the effort of the Assembly in its development agenda.
Miss Esther Apasiko, a primary six girl who recited a poem on stigmatization stated that menstruation was not a crime but natural and stressed the need for them to be respected.
The occasion, which was on the theme” Education About Menstruation Changes Everything”, was used to hold a quiz on Menstrual Hygiene for five basic schools namely Kuliya Junior High School, Primary, English and Arabic, T I Ahamadiya , Nakole D/A Primary and Kajelo R/C Primary.
CRS presented sanitary pads, soap, books and pens to all the participating schools.
