Community Aid for Rural Development (CARD) Ghana, has installed a sanitary 'pad bank' at the Wa Methodist School for the Blind to promote menstrual health among students.
The pad bank facility is stocked with reusable sanitary pads to help female students who experience difficulties in acquiring sanitary pads have access to them during menstruation.
The facility was launched as part of an event organized by CARD Ghana to commemorate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities at the Wa Methodist School for the Blind over the weekend.
The event formed part of the She Leads program being implemented in the Upper West Region by CARD Ghana with support from Plan International Ghana.
Miss Ernestina Biney, the She Leads Project Coordinator with CARD Ghana, said the installation of the pad bank was in fulfilment of a request made by the female students of the school to CARD Ghana last year.
She indicated that the provision of the pad bank would help to eliminate period poverty, a phenomenon where menstruating girls are unable to access menstrual products due to financial constraints.
"Sanitary pad banks help alleviate period poverty by providing free and affordable pads to those in need, ensuring that no one has to compromise their health or wellbeing due to the inability to afford menstrual products.
"When people have access to menstrual products, they can participate fully in daily activities, pursue education and engage in economic opportunities, leading to empowerment and improved quality of life," Miss Biney said.
She emphasized that access to menstrual products through the pad bank initiative was essential for maintaining good health and preventing infections.
Miss Biney encouraged the school authorities to ensure proper usage and maintenance of the facility to benefit the students and also ensure that the pad bank remains solvent.
The Senior Housemistress of the school, Madam Florence Gamuo, after unveiling the facility, thanked CARD Ghana for the initiative.
She expressed optimism that the pad bank would contribute to improving personal and menstrual hygiene among the female students in the school.
She promised that the facility would be put to judicious use and enhanced maintenance culture to ensure it serves its intended purpose.
The students noted that the pad bank came in timely to help improve their access to sanitary pads in the phase of increasing the cost of sanitary pads in the market.
"We are so grateful, we are very happy and we really appreciate what CARD Ghana has done for us because we know we are going to benefit a lot from it. Now, the price of the sanitary pad is so costly that some of us, we cannot even afford it. Sometimes, when we're in our menstrual period, we always find it difficult to handle ourselves, even to get active access to classes. So, I am sure that with what they have done for us, it will help us a lot and even in our classes,” a student, Miss Elizabeth Akuzoba said.