SI ACCRA: Reproductive Health Education And Introduction Of Reusable Sanitary Pads Project

The Soroptimist International Club of Accra realized that some girl children in their adolescent age drop out of school because of lack of proper information about their lives at that stage and how to handle themselves. It is estimated that about 20 percent of school going girls between ages 12 to 15 fall victims to this menace. On receipt of request from the Education Directorate of the Akwapim South District Assembly in the Eastern Region of Ghana, the Reproductive Health Education (RHE) and Introduction of Reusable Sanitary Pads Project (IRSP) was developed in collaboration with the Soroptimist Club of Benicia, USA.

The project has four main objectives, which are to:

·  Provide increased knowledge on Reproductive Health to the girls in the Junior High Schools 1 to 3 of the Akwapim South District

·  Improve the levels of hygiene among the target group

·  Reduce absenteeism and forestall possible dropouts among the target group

·  Provide an alternative to the regular sanitary pads (which are expensive) by introducing the reusable sanitary pads

The Akwapim South District (ASDA) has 34 Junior High Schools Forms 1 to 3. Together there are 1,740 girls. These are the students the project is targeting. The project period is the 2018/2019 academic year covering September 2018 to September 2019. The Education Directorate has the District divided into 4 circuits. They are Aburi, Kitase, Pakro and the Nsaba circuits. The project has therefore been divided into four to cover the four circuits. Each circuit has approximately 420 - 450 girl students who constitute the target group for the project. Out of the total number of girl children of 1,740 about 420 - 450 identifiable needy girls will receive the reusable sanitary pads.

The project was launched on November 29th, 2018 and the first phase begun in the Aburi circuit. The second phase took place on February 7th, 2019 in the Kitase Circuit. The funding for this phase was partly provided by FAN MILK Ghana Ltd. The company also provided some of their products yoghurt and ice cream.

• 420 and 450 students were involved in both phases respectively.