In Rivers Schools;Distributes sanitary pads to female students

 Rotary Club Decries Lack Of Restrooms In Rivers Schools;Distributes sanitary pads to female students

The Rotary Club of Port Harcourt GRA, Rivers State, has decried the lack of restrooms in most public secondary schools in the State, describing the situation as worrisome.

The club’s president, Dr. Ofon Harcourt-White, disclosed this on Tuesday while speaking with journalists in Port Harcourt shortly after a talk on hygiene and sanitation as well as the distribution of sanitary pads to students of the Holy Rosary College, Port Harcourt.

Harcourt-White appealed to good spirited individuals and organisations to assist schools that do not have restrooms by providing the facilities for them.

She said: “Under Rotary area of focus, water and sanitation, it is important that most secondary schools should have restrooms, especially for the girls. There are a couple of schools that I have visited in the state that do not have restrooms.

“You know how difficult it is when a girl is menstruating and she has to go behind to change her pad or hid in the bush and all that. I am appealing to organisations to check out schools that do not have restrooms and assist them in building some so that girls will be comfortable when they are menstruating.”

The Rotary Club President stated that the talkshow was to educate the female students on how to take care of their body to avoid illnesses and other health conditions.

Harcourt-White said: “The hygiene talk was to reemphasise the importance of personal hygiene and I am happy to say we partner with one of our interact clubs, the Interact Club of Holy Rosary College. It was just to remind the ladies, the girls on the importance of personal hygiene.

“Personal hygiene is basically taking care of your body and if you don’t take care of your body, you are bound to have illnesses or medical conditions. We decided to come and talk to them because it is one of our areas of focus, water and sanitation.

“We did this in partnership with one of our interact clubs and we have two other interact clubs we are partnering with. We hope to visit the schools soon and discuss this. It was pertinent because this is a girls school, you know the issue of poor handling in times of menstruation and we thought we should start with the girls’ school first before spreading it out to other places.