The Messenger of Hope International, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), has decried the management of menstrual hygiene among women especially girls and called for support to tackle period poverty.
Ms Chinwe Ogbuja, founder of the foundation, made the call on Sunday at the organisation’s outreach in Durumi 1 Community, in Abuja.
Ogbuja said that the aim of the outreach was to teach people in communities about menstrual health and also lend a hand to ending period poverty by giving out free sanitary pads.
She said that the measure became necessary to assist in ending poor menstrual hygiene that could result in infection and other health challenges in the future.
“Our goal is to reach as many girls as possible, we do this through donor funding from organisations and individuals like Transcorp Hilton, online donors among others.
“We were in Kabusa and we are here in Durumi 1 today, we are going to move to another community next week.
“Our call as the Messenger of Hope International Foundation is for well-meaning Nigerians to see this as a cause that everybody needs to be part of.
“Once a girl becomes an adolescent she starts to menstrate and it is not optional, it is something that happens in every month, it affects her education and everything in life,” she said.
Ogbuja hoped that people would be committed to at least donating as small as N700 for pad, to give a girl the chance to manage her period effectively every month.
She added that the plan is to establish a pad pantry where girls could walk in and get free pads to manage their monthly period.
“This way, girls will have less to worry about every month because sometimes period poverty holds back a lot of girls from pursuing careers and it affects their health, mental health among others,” she said.
Dr Clinton Itotoh, a Menstrual Hygiene Therapist, taught the girls to understand how period works; how it flows; how to end menstrual cramps naturally and how to use pads.
According to Itotoh, who is also the Founder of Menstrual Advantage Therapy (MAT), the major causes of female health issues like fibroids and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) infection among others is the lifestyle they live.
“These are what you eat, what you ingest, the chemicals you are exposed to have underlining health challenges, so I always advise females to stay away from them, especially sugar.
“As a lady you can avoid these things so that your body will naturally flow in the default setting that God has created it.
“However , if you introduce all these negative things to your system, definitely over time, you will start experiencing a lot of all these underlining uterine issues,” he said.
Mrs Saratu Tanko, Women Leader, Durumi 1, commended the foundation for the kind gesture, adding that the lecture had helped the girls to know how to manage menstrual hygiene.
Tanko said that the pads would also go a long way to assist the women because they would not have to buy pads for two to three months.
“We are grateful to you for remembering us in Durumi 1, to bring such kindness to us, may God remember you and reward you,” she said.
NAN
