According to a recent NTV Uganda report, almost 80% of women and girls in the Kamyokya district could not afford sanitary towels and had resorted to using unsanitary rags and old newspapers. (Akello Patricia – a Ugandan model – organizes a charity drive for schoolgirls in Pader)
This is simply a minor part of the problem that affects many countries. In some rural areas of the country, girls have been known to stay at home throughout their menstruation cycle due to a scarcity of sanitary towels.
As a result, Ugandan Supermodel Akello Patricia has made solving this issue a priority through her community-based campaign Dignity for a Girl Child.
This past weekend, the model and members of her team paid a visit to Atang Primary School in Pader District, where they distributed reusable sanitary pads to around 30 schoolgirls.
The girls were also shown how to use the sanitary towels and were trained on personal hygiene as well as career assistance.
During the handover ceremony, Akello stated that a girl missing four days of school per month due to her period is something that should not be happening in this day and age.
‘We can only provide equitable possibilities for our girls if they are not missing school due to something as trivial as menstrual periods,’ she explained.
The community-based program was founded in 2019 by the New York-based model and her older sister Brenda Atim Lakey, with the purpose of promoting health awareness and sickness prevention through health talks, education, and sensitization in schools and communities. (Akello Patricia – a Ugandan model – organizes a charity drive for schoolgirls in Pader – celebrity jazz ug)
