The Elpis Children’s Foundation’s mission is to encourage and support black families in pursuing private adoption in the United States and financially support non-profit organisations that serve orphaned, needy and abandoned children in the Republic of Ghana.
The international NGO funded 250 menstrual cups from CouldYou? to support girls in Yilo Krobo Senior High School to mark International Day of the Girl-Child 2024.
A Founding Board member and President of Elpis, Alfred Essandoh, explains that he was casually flipping through television channels last year in Ghana when he chanced upon a documentary about the need for menstrual products for school-aged girls. He adds that this is a major need for public school teenage girls who cannot afford to buy feminine hygiene products.
“The documentary featured a teenage girl who cried as she told her story of not being able to go to school. She was having her monthly menstrual cycle and only a piece of cloth to protect her clothing.
She couldn’t afford to buy sanitary pads and friends laughed at her as the cloth was not strong enough to hold her flow. An older woman narrated that she no longer needed her cloth and would pass the same cloth down to her daughter who had just come of age. That is why we have decided to support Inspire Today with these menstrual cups in order to have the girls remain in school.”
Executive Director for Inspire Today, Etornam Sey, is happy about the partnership as this will pave the way for greater collaborations in the interest of the girls. “Globally, 75 percent of new HIV infections among the adolescents occur in girls. One in three adolescent girls suffers from Anaemia, which is a form of malnutrition.
“Almost double the number of adolescent girls (one in four) compared to boys are not in any form of education, employment or training. This scares us and we are in a hurry to change the narrative. We appreciate these partnerships as they provide some cushioning and protection for our girls.”
The two NGOs are confident of helping eradicate period poverty by 2040 as a way of contributing to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 5. This years International Day of the Girl-Child was themed ‘Girls vision for the future’.
