By Queen Kunde
Women in Media, WIM, Taraba State chapter has called on government at all levels to adopt a policy that will support the distribution of Monthly free sanitary pads to adolescent girls in Taraba State.
The association made the call through its President Mrs. Queen Kunde Enoch at the Government Day Secondary School, GDSS, Kofai, a suburb of Jalingo during the association’s Monthly outreach program Tagged “Pad A Girl Projects” where over three hundred adolescent school girls were in attendance.
She decried the increasing number of out of school children in Taraba State most of whom are the girl child, said finding has revealed that most of the cases have to do with issues relating to the Female Monthly Menstrual circle, prominent among which is the high cost of Menstruation pads, non-availability of proper hygienic facilities in most schools that can enable the adolescent school girls maintain proper hygiene required during such periods.
“ We have come here today to enlighten and educate our girl child on proper menstrual hygiene issues, they often remind the girl child on how vulnerable they are in the society yet not much is done by our duty bearers to support her overcome these challenges that supposedly makes her such”.
“Therefore our objectives as women in Media is to help the girl child and other such labeled vulnerable groups in the society, gain confidence to discountenance the stigma attached to issues like Menstruation, educate them on how to look beyond the challenges so as to attain basic skills of life such as formal Education “she said.
She advised the girls to shun the attitude of staying away from school during their monthly Menstruation Circle for fear of been discriminated against by the opposite gender, said the time taken off school at such periods will affect their academic performance no matter how intelligent they are.
The Miss Tourism Nigeria, Sarah Bulus who was on hand to lend her support to the WIM’s Charity outreach advised the girl child on ways they can maintain proper menstrual hygiene, especially in this stage of their life ,which she referred as a delicate, where teenagers mostly take wrong actions that could thwart their future development lauded the WIM for the initiative targeted at providing guide for the Girl Child.
Highlight of the event was the distribution of sanitary pads to over three hundred girls as well as educational materials on menstrual hygiene.
The Pad A Girl monthly outreach program is a pet project of the Women in Media, WIM, Taraba State chapter, aimed at reducing the suffering of the women, especially school girls who go through it on a monthly basis owing to the high cost of Menstruation Pads, which has become out of the reach for the common man in Taraba State.
The event also had a boost with the birthday celebration of one of its members, Mrs. Abigail Jerry, popularly known as Madam Amazing, who distributed gift items to the Students.