Richard Allen High school in the east of Freetown has been the latest beneficiary to receive one hundred Menstrual Hygiene Packs for School Girls from Orange Sierra Leone.
Desmond Spaine, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Orange Sierra Leone, while presenting the packs at the school compound at Kissy, disclosed to the girls and school authorities that the donation of the kits is consistent with a pledge the company made in August, 2018 while President Bio was launching the Free Quality Education to provide a USD1.5 million material support to the scheme.
He continued that the company and the Ministry of Education were able to design five (5) projects and that the distribution of 10,000 menstrual hygiene packs to 100 schools across the country in five years was one among the five projects.
The Orange CSR Manager emphasized that the contribution of the private sector is always critical in ensuring that government programs succeed.
The Company, he added, has responded to the clarion call by Government to support the Free Quality Education.
Madam Anita Koroma, the Consultant managing the production of the menstrual hygiene packs who also doubles as the founder and CEO of Girl Child Network Sierra Leone, gave a short talk on the need for girls to manage their menstrual hygiene.
The Girl Child Network CEO spurred the girls to concentrate on their schooling and avoid early child marriage and teenage pregnancy.
She underscored the point that the fight against teenage pregnancy is constrained by the fact that there has been a missing link in the teenage pregnancy advocacy as the advocators had failed to establish the background for their campaign around the responsible management of menstrual cycles which, according to her, is where everything starts.
She demonstrated to the kids how to use the reusable menstrual hygiene packs donated to them by Orange Sierra Leone.
The School authorities applauded the move by Orange Sierra Leone and assured them that they will keep an eye on the girls with a view to look into their menstrual hygiene management.
Rose Hawa Bangura, an SS 3 pupil of the Richard Allen secondary school, gave the vote of thanks and commended Orange Sierra Leone for raising their awareness around managing their menstrual cycles.