JHDI, CSACEA launch literacy, hygiene campaign among girls in Bajoga
……decry impact of menstrual poverty, awareness on school girls’ attendance
No fewer than 50 girls from nine schools in Bajoga, Funakaye Local Government Area of Gombe State have benefitted from a sensitisation lecture on the importance of education and hygiene.
Speaking during the lecture on Friday, Executive Director of Jewel Health and Development Initiative, Abubakar Hussaini, said the occasion was held in commemoration of International Day of the Girl Child, stressing that girls’ deserve adequate care and support.
Our correspondent reports that the one-day lecture was organised in collaboration with Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All supported by the global partnership for education and EducationOutLoud
According to him, lack of information on menstrual hygiene, has negative impact on school attendance, adding that it also impedes on the psyche.
He said, “We gathered 50 girls from nine school from Bajoga in Funakaye LGA in Gombe State and we gathered them to commemorate the International Day of Girl child. The idea is to sensitise the girl child on the importance of hygiene, and the need to embrace education.”
Speaking further Hussaini explained that stakeholders have underscored the impact of hygiene in girls’ school attendance, adding that during mensural circle many abscond for fear of staining themselves.
“Hygiene is very important in the life of human beings as well as education especially during menstruation period, girls abscond from school, one of the areas we felt we should encourage them is even if they are on their period they can still come to school, take care of themselves and also they will be guided on how they will take care of themselves, how they can attend school and do other things in life.
“A research was conducted and the result shows that most of the girls don’t attend school during their periods because they don’t want to be stain because it makes them uncomfortable and inferior among their fellow students so we aligned the issue of personal hygiene into the education for them to know that they can be able to take care of themselves as well as attending classes,” Hussaini added.
Also speaking, Hajiya Aishatu Bala, the Head Teacher of the girl child school in Bajoga community, noted that personal hygiene is very important to the girl child, adding “because they need it more than the male child because of the nature of a girl child body.”
Commenting further Bala added that she talked about how to take care of the different parts of the body from the scalp up to the legs, “We talked about how they will maintain themselves during their menstrual period which is the most challenging part of their life in school, I have seen female students been stained in the class room without knowing because she didn’t know the date of her next period. So i taught them on how to prevent it from reoccurring next time,” she added.
Explaining their efforts as teachers to help those who develop early Bala said, “In primary schools very few girls see their menstruation so when we realise such situation, we call them personally in the office. We talk them and educate them on how to maintain themselves, we also encourage them not to be scared because is something that occur to every female child not something new, at times when they are having menstrual cramps we send them back home, we give them two to three days to stay at home to maintain their health. Sometimes we usually send some of our teachers to tell the parents what happen to the child, and the mother should take proper guide on the girl at home.”
On her part, Headmistress Model Primary School Bajoga, Hafsat Umar, who facilitated on maintaining your prestige enjoined the young girls to be assertive.
She said, “They should maintain their prestige they shouldn’t allow men to destroy their prestige ,they should be guided by their parents advices, also to take care of themselves properly in school and were ever they find themselves”
Umar disclosed that challenges faced mostly emanate their parents, “they want to them to get married early and thereby stop them from going to school,” she said.
She called on government to mobilise people that would educate and counsel parents in their various communities, stressing that “give them orientation, and also offer the girls a free education from primary school to SS3 or possibly to their higher institution.”
