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The African Immigrants Resources Centre, a United States-based non-profit, has distributed free sanitary pads worth more than N5 million to 1,000 girls and 300 young women in Imo State.
The distribution was part of the organisation’s “Give A Girl A Pad” initiative.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the organisation on Friday, the initiative reached girls and women in Umuebe Eziala and Ubaa communities, both in Emii town, Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State.
In addition to the sanitary pads, deodorants and educational books were also distributed.
Mrs Chimezie Oji-Kalu, speaking at the end of the two-day distribution, the convener of the centre, explained that the gesture was aimed at promoting girl-child support and hygiene education in rural communities.
Oji-Kalu pointed out that rural girls and women were often vulnerable to infections due to poor menstrual hygiene and lack of knowledge, which prompted the intervention.
“Aside from providing housing for homeless African immigrants in the U.S. and Nigeria, we also offer hygiene education and distribute sanitary pads to teenage girls and vulnerable young women.
“While distributing the pads, we discovered that many women in rural areas not only cannot afford them but are also unaware of how to use them.
“This is why we have extended our assistance to both girls and women,” Oji-Kalu stated.
She encouraged individuals or organisations interested in supporting the cause to reach out through their website, www.airc6674.org.
She also expressed her gratitude to the centre’s volunteers who have taken the GAGAP message to several states, including Abuja, Abia, Port Harcourt, Imo, Lagos, Nasarawa, and Niger.
She called on both governments and philanthropically-minded Nigerians to support the initiative.
Mrs Rita Ebuta, the GAGAP Coordinator in Abuja, highlighted the centre’s efforts in equipping teenage girls with essential knowledge on proper hygiene and sex education, which she believed contribute significantly to their psychological development.
GAGAP ambassadors, Mr Samuel Okoro, Miss Favour Chinedu, and Mrs Chioma Nwachukwu, all lauded the initiative.
Okoro urged the government to prioritise child care and child rights education in rural communities, while Chinedu emphasised the need for advocacy in support of girl-child education, in spite of economic challenges.
Nwachukwu described Oji-Kalu as “a woman with a golden heart” and prayed for continued blessings for her humanitarian work.
The GAGAP Coordinator in Imo, Mrs Ogochukwu Eziaku, encouraged beneficiaries to make the best use of the pads and apply the hygiene lessons shared by the centre.
Mr Boniface Nwadike, a community social worker and GAGAP ambassador, explained that menstruation often lowered the self-confidence of girls who cannot afford sanitary pads, further underscoring the importance of the intervention.
Miss Rita Nwoke, one of the beneficiaries, spoke on behalf of the girls and thanked the organisation for its thoughtful gesture, pledging to apply the lessons learned during the programme.
NAN
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