Mrs Justina Marigold Assan, the Central Regional Minister, through her Marigold Foundation, has donated more than 3,000 sanitary pads to about 1,500 basic schoolgirls in three districts of the Central Region. They are Cape Coast North, Assin South and Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa. The Regional Minister and her team, visited the selected schools in the beneficiary districts and sensitised the young adolescents to proper menstrual hygiene practices, entreating them to keep their menstruation clean to avoid infections and its attendant complications. The beneficiary schools included Assin Nkran/Ngresi D/A Basic A and B, Ahmadiyya Basic school, Assin Domeabra D/A Basic school, Bedum Presby Basic School, Bedum TI Ahmadiyya Basic School, and Victory International School. The gesture which formed part of her annual menstrual health and advocacy drive project, is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) three and four, which promote good health and well-being, and education respectively. The Regional Minis ter allayed the fears of the girls about menstruation, emphasising that it was not a disease but a unique feature which signified maturity and made females special. She urged them to keep their menstrual periods clean and healthy by bathing twice daily, changing their sanitary pads regularly and avoiding the use of dirty rags instead of pads, stressing that every day was menstrual hygiene day. She cautioned that poor menstrual hygiene made girls susceptible to urinary tract infections and bad body odour, and complications that could lead to barrenness or death in extreme situations. 'Menstruation is not a sickness, and it shouldn't change your mood. Don't you ever stay away from school because you are menstruating,' she said. 'Ensure that you don't soil yourself when menstruating, and when you take your pad off, wrap it up neatly after use and dispose it off properly so nobody sees it,' she advised. Mrs Assan cautioned the young girls against indulging in sexual activities to avoid early pregnancies and urged them to take their studies seriously for a better future. She made a personal promise to sponsor students who secured aggregates six to 10 with chop boxes, trunks, mattresses and provisions for their secondary school education. 'We want to keep the young girls in the classroom. When we can keep them in school, then we are sure that when they get to the secondary level, they will stay and move on to the tertiary level for the greater good of our country,' she noted. 'Thankfully, the President has given us free Senior High Education and so you don't have any excuse,' she stressed. Mrs Assan expressed gratitude to the sponsors of the project and appealed to individuals and benevolent organisations for more support to reach out to more girls to keep them in school. Mr Ekow Ewusi, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliament Candidate for Cape Coast North, entreated young boys to desist from making fun of their menstruating female colleagues, stressing that it was not a proper behaviour. He also urged the young girls not to feel embarrassed by their menstruation, but rather celebrate it as it made them special. Madam Winnifred Abaidoo-Ayin, NPP Parliamentary Candidate for Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa, thanked the Minister for the gesture and encouraged her to continue that path for the grooming of more girls. She also encouraged the girls to be intentional about their future and stay committed to their education, expressing her resolve to support their development through every means possible if voted as the Member of Parliament. Source: Ghana News Agency