A couple months ago, Mary, the teacher at Kasadwini Atenaeɛ–our language arts center in Asisiriwa, Ghana—came to me with a story. She had noticed that many of the junior high school girls in the village didn’t know how to handle menstruation, and they didn’t have access to sanitary pads (tampons aren’t really a thing here). Upon recognizing this need, Mary started a small after-school health class on Fridays at Kasadwini Atenaeɛ where girls could come and learn about what was happening to their bodies and what to do about it in a safe, non-judgmental environment.
As fantastic as knowledge and support are, the girls still lacked the hygienic supplies necessary to apply it. Thus, Mary started a little program wherein she collected 1 cedi (about $0.16) from each girl every week. However, some girls couldn’t even come up with this much. At the end of the month, Mary added her own money to the pot and purchased a box of sanitary pads to distribute to all the members. Word spread, and soon more and more girls joined Mary’s Friday after-school club.
The health class quickly outgrew Mary’s resources, but she wasn’t done
Mary recognized that the girls still needed more help, so she reached out to me and asked if I knew of any NGOs in Ghana that did work on such health issues. She began proactively seeking further support her in her endeavor to educate and empower the girls of Asisiriwa.
I told her that a good friend of mine, Kwasi Gyasi-Gyamerah, the resident director for the Council on International Educational Exchange (and my teacher when I studied abroad in Ghana) and his wife, Angela, had started a nonprofit organization called Dialogue Genitalia Ghana. Dialogue Genitalia GH is committed to creating safe spaces to discuss issues of sexual and reproductive health. They responded immediately to this need and designed an extraordinary three-day workshop and program for all the girls and boys at the Asisiriwa JHS. While Mary hadn’t specifically asked for a boys’ program, one of DGG’s foundational beliefs is that it’s equally important to educate boys as well as girls in matters of sexual and reproductive health. We agree!
Although this program looked great, it was going to be very expensive. Bringing a vanload of personnel and supplies from Accra, the capital, constituted the majority of the budget.
We were impressed by the outpouring of support, but needed a program that fit the scale of Mary’s health class
If you’ve read this blog much, you know that we come across a lot of needs and opportunities to help the communities we work in that are outside of our mission. We have a lot of tough conversations when these come up, because we can’t (and shouldn’t) tackle everything.
At its core, Untold International provides resources for language arts education (including literacy) in rural West African communities in both the official language and the local languages, and we do this primarily through language arts centers equipped with a library, classroom, and community space. We are committed to deepening the quality of these centers and the education they provide, as well as building into our staff.
This is how we came to the conclusion that spending $2,000 on a one-time, three-day health education workshop for the community was neither within our mission, nor to scale with the needs of the community. Kwasi and Angela suggested a compromise that fit much better: rather than sending a crew of six people from the capital on a one-time trip to Asisiriwa, we could simply send Mary and Kumi (a female and male educator for both girls and boys) to Accra, and Dialogue Genitalia GH would train them in how to educate the students in matters of sexual and reproductive health. Both Mary and Kumi eagerly agreed to this proposition, so they will travel to Accra for this training in December.
New training means new (and better) opportunities for the community
Nea ɔnnim no sua a, ɔhu
What one doesn’t know can be found by learningWhat this means is that both Kumi and Mary—who already serve Asisiriwa as teachers and mentors—will become resources on sexual and reproductive health as well. This training will empower them to lead health classes that run any length of time, since they’re already at Kasadwini Atenaeɛ. Thus, students can attend the health class and be able to come to them anytime with questions and concerns.
We see this as a sustainable solution to this particular problem facing Asisiriwa, one which deepens and develops the quality and educational resources at Kasadwini Atenaeɛ. I’m extremely proud of Mary for seeing a need, using her platform, and designing a program to address it. Such initiative both humbles and inspires me.
Do you believe in student health classes? It’s easy (and inexpensive!) to get involved!
Of course, new initiatives come with new costs. We would like to support Mary’s program for sanitary pads, and other supplies required for classes at Kasadwini Atenaeɛ. The primary way we ask people to donate is through the Untold Dollar—that’s $1 per month from everyone who knows about what we do and supports it. If you know anyone who cares about student health, please share this story with them and ask them to start giving one dollar (or euro or pound) per month.
Thank you so much for reading this, and for empowering the next generation of learners and teachers.
