ASA Savings and Loans, a leading financial institution has collaborated with the Education Directorate of the Awutu Senya East Municipal to observe this year’s Menstrual Hygiene Day in Kasoa.
A total of 1,166 sanitary pads were freely distributed to pupils from five basic schools within the Municipality of the Central Region. The beneficiary schools were Anglican Basic School A to D, and Icodehs Islamic Basic School all in Kasoa.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the celebration, the Human Resource Manager for ASA, Ms Eunice Boadu, highlighted the company’s commitment to supporting women. She added that the customer base of ASA are mostly women, particularly those who cannot access credit facilities from the mainstream commercial banks.
Ms Boadu placed emphasis on the need to support especially young girls to grow to become valuable citizens and have high esteem.
Mr Richard Nartey, the CSR/Sustainability Manager for ASA said, this donation forms part of the company’s corporate social responsibility(CSR) which is designed to promote economic growth, enhance social inclusion, and advance environmental protection.
During the event, an educational session led by a public health nurse, Ms Augustina Adiaba was used to enlighten the pupils on the dos and don’ts of menstrual hygiene. She also demonstrated how to properly dispose of used sanitary pads to prevent environmental pollution and health hazards.
Ms Adiaba also made a plea to the government, organizations, and stakeholders to support girls who do not have the privilege of accessing sanitary pads for their monthly periods.
The Municipal Director of Education for Awutu Senya East, Ms FaustinaAlimatu Braimah, noted that a lot of the girls don’t attend during their menstrual periods, simply because they cannot afford or have access to sanitary pads. Some however resort to the use of cloth which mostly causes infections as such clothes are unhygienic. This adversely affects their academic performance.
According to Ms Braimah, today’s education will enlighten and help alleviate the misconceptions on menstruation.
A beneficiary pupil, Julian Awuku- Dagbui expressed her gratitude to ASA for their kind gesture of donating sanitary pads, which would help her and her peers manage their menstrual hygiene better.