Girls in rural Ghana want to stay in school, but it’s not easy once puberty strikes. It’s a struggle to afford school supplies, let alone sanitary supplies. Without supplies, they miss some days of school each month. Their grades suffer. Men in the village offer them money, but then expect sexual favors. No one has ever taught the girls about sex or pregnancy, so they comply. Before long, they’re pregnant, kicked out of school. They proceed to become teenage mothers unable to provide for themselves, let alone a baby.
We had a fundraiser to support Self-Help International, to train 500 girls on women’s health sanitation and hygiene. We were able to hit about 50% of our target and handed the funds to the appropriate authorities in Kumasi, the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
Self-Help International devotes its efforts to improve women’s health by supporting sexual, reproductive and maternal health and rights.
Interested in supporting the training and provision of supplies to young girls in rural areas?
Massira in partnership with Ecotowels embarked on a community outreach on the 12th of August 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic to provide sanitary hygiene products to 135 female head porters in Agbogbloshie (a trading center in Accra, Ghana) and engage one-on-one with some of these women to understand their personal hygiene routine especially during their periods, health challenges & provide health tips.
Female head porters popularly known as Kayayei/Kayayo in Ghana migrate from rural communities to any of Ghana’s urban cities in search of better employment prospects. They generally carry their burdens on their heads. These women toil away in markets yet earn so little and live in poor conditions. With their minimal income, basic hygiene & nutrition conditions are also poor.
Reusable sanitary hygiene products given could cater for their menstrual hygiene needs for about 4years, relieving them of the burden of purchasing disposable sanitary towels and hopefully channeling that money to improving their nutrition.
