The WASH Club kick-start its project dubbed "WASH4SCHOOLS" in the Central Region of Ghana on July 12, 2018. As part of its objectives, organized a workshop on hygiene for Imam Khomeini Islamic Junior High School in Amamoma, Cape Coast. It was an interesting and a successful workshop. Upon arrival at the school, the headmaster welcomed the team and made the necessary arrangement for the workshop to begin.
The students were very excited and eager to take part in the workshop. To begin with, George, the interim President of the club introduce the team and the our purpose of visit to the students after which Jonathan, the leader of the club, continued with the main exercise of the day. The workshop was in two sections: Personal hygiene and the Menstrual hygiene section. The personal hygiene section was led by Jonathan and the Menstrual hygiene section was led by Millicent,the interim PRO.
During the personal hygiene section, students were taught on good hygiene practices both in the household and outside their homes. A lot of emphasis was made on hand washing activities. As stated by Jonathan "Hand washing is the most effective and simplest way of preventing diseases yet many people do not practice it". He encouraged the students to wash their hands with soap and water all the time. The students contribution to the workshop was very encouraging. They seem to know a lot about personal hygiene practices and the times at which hand washing is very important. One student went ahead to demonstrate to the team and the whole school the best way of washing the hand and she did it to perfection.
Jonathan lauded the students for their interest and full participation in the section and urged them all to apply what they have learnt and teach their friends and family to also practice good hygiene to stay away from diseases. To conclude on his section, he said to the students, "hand washing is not just an activity but a technique that must be mastered in order to stay healthy".
Millicent and George continued with the Menstrual hygiene section. The Menstrual hygiene section was full of fun. Students and facilitators shared their knowledge on myths and stigma surrounding menstruation and how to eliminate it. There was a positive reaction from the boys to support their female colleagues during that moments.
The team shared some inspiring messages to the the students that unveiled the reality and the struggles girls and women go through during that moment of the month. Millicent ended the section with this powerful message, "Without access to good menstrual materials and private toilets/washrooms, girls and women may not want to go far from home. Girls may not go to school to learn, teachers may not go to school to teach, market women may not go to market to sell and mothers may also not go to the farm to fetch foodstuffs for the family. Let us all come together to empower our women and girls. Say no to menstrual stigma."
The workshop ended successfully and the team expressed their gratitude to the authorities for such an opportunity. The WASH Club is open to any invitation from schools and organizations to undertake such activities.