Girls have been encouraged to embrace and take ownership of themselves just as nature has fashioned them, and to steer their course towards achieving success in their chosen endeavors.
The call was made by Dr. Mojiola Iheme of Kairos Initiative, an NGO that deals with indigent people in society, especially the Girl-child while speaking at the celebration of the 2023 International Day of the Girl-child held at the Government Secondary School, Bayara, in Bauchi.
While talking about menstruation, Iheme said, “menstrual (period) hygiene… because, for a long time, it has been treated like a taboo, it has not been discussed by society. The situation is not good for the girl child, especially those in schools.”
Iheme stressed, “We want to make it known that it is a natural thing, and if everybody in the class, the boys and even the teachers know, it is a natural thing.”
According to her, “There should be a support system that helps them manage the hygiene situation well to have a healthy society. We intend to provide toilets for the girls through another foundation that does toilets. We want the girl child to know that a period is not a taboo; we want to help them on how to manage it.”
“We are going to provide toilets for the girl child, well-built toilets that are of quality. We want to give them a place where they are safe to change their pads, clean up themselves and feel free, not feeling threatened or exposed, Kairos Initiative is going to do that,” she stressed.
Moji Iheme said, “My message to the girl child is for her to own her girlship as a girl, hold it up high, enjoy it, it is a privilege, however, it is to you. The Girl Child is part of the society; without the girl, there is no society, so, own your girlship.”
She added that, “Whatever they are doing in digitization, do it, because there is nothing the boy can do that the girl cannot do, even better. I am encouraging the girls to own their girlship.”
According to her, “My daughter started the Kairos Initiative, registered over there in the UK but brought it back home. We have done a lot of work in Nigeria, especially for the girl child, so she excelled, and that is why I said, own your girlship.”
She stressed that, “Being a girl did not serve as a disadvantage for her because she is a girl; she knows what girls do, she knows what they need, and having lived here, she knows the point to act.”
“It has been an advantage. Anywhere, a girl can excel. IJ, the founder of Kairos Initiative, today she is an influencer and doing well as a motivational speaker over in the UK. That is what we are telling the girl.
| Tribune Newspaper
