27/03/2025
On Wednesday 26th March 2025, a five-member team from the Lancaster Youth Forum Ghana, visited Jesus Cares Educational Complex at Ashiaman in the Greater Accra region of Ghana, for a Health Education on Personal Hygiene and Menstrual Health.
Lancaster Youth Forum Ghana is a branch of Lancaster Youth Forum PA - a US based youth empowerment non-governmental organization.
The Lancaster Ghana team members comprised the following people:
Mr. Joseph Boateng (President), Mr. Adjei Kwarteng-Amaning (Vice President & PR), Mrs. Odelia Yankey (Secretary), Mr. Martin Archer (Treasurer), and Ms. Zipporah Peprah (student member).
The presentation was mainly done by Midwife Odelia Yankey (Secretary) with contributions from other executive members of the group. The presentation was centred on Personal Hygiene and Menstrual Health.
The Upper Primary and Junior High School students of Jesus Care Educational Complex were educated on the need to take very good care of their bodies as the grow through adolescence and puberty.
Midwife Odelia enumerated the health and well as social benefits of keeping themselves very well, including having the self-confidence to appear in public without any fears. Among the areas the presentation touched included oral hygiene, proper handling of under wears, bodily care, proper menstrual care and safety tips during menstruation periods. The lesson was laced with practical demonstrations on hugging, how to wear and dispose off sanitary pads among others.
Mr. Kwarteng- the Vice President on his part, encouraged the students on the need to focus on the studies instead of engaging in romantic relationships. He sited examples of how girls mature and get married earlier than their male age mates. He encourage to abstain from sexual relationships.
The President of group - Mr. Joseph Boateng encouraged the students to work hard and believe in themselves and their ambitions despite the somewhat negative branding some people give to the people of Ashiaman. As a demonstration of the possibilities available to them, he recounted how he had lived in the Ashiaman community when through his efforts brought foreign investors to Ghana, and also boarded an air plane for the first time in his life while living in Ashiaman.
At the end of the programme, packs of sanitary pads were shared to all the female students, and also to the school. The school's was received by the staff in charge of First Aid for future emergency use.
Both students and staff of the school were happy for the knowledge, time, and motivation shared with them by the Lancaster Ghana, and requested that the team visits them periodically to share more of such insightful education with them.
Attached are some images from the event.
