By Dennis Peprah
Ntotroso, (Ahafo), May 28, GNA – The Newmont Ahafo Development Foundation (NaDeF) with support from the World Gold Council on Wednesday distributed 500 boxes of sanitary pads and hygiene bags to basic school girls in the Ahafo Region NADeF was established in 2008 as the main driver of sustainable development in the 10 Ahafo mine communities of the Newmont Ghana Gold Limited (NGGL).
The communities comprise Kenyasi Number One, Kenyasi Number Two, Ntotroso, Gyedu, and Wamahinso in the Asutifi North District, and Yamfo, Susuanso, Afrisipakrom, Terchire, and Adrobaa in the Tano North Municipality of the region.
Each of the beneficiaries, aged between 10 and 15 years in 47 basic schools within the Newmont Ahafo South project and Newmont Ahafo North mine, received three sanitary pads and a hygiene bag.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the sidelines of a distribution ceremony held at the Kwakyekrom District Assembly Basic School at Ntotroso in the Asutifi North District, Mrs Elizabeth Opoku-Darko, the Executive Secretary of NADeF, stressed the foundation’s commitment to enhance girl-child education in the area.
She said the foundation was helping to identify and tackle the bottlenecks impeding girl child education within the Newmont catchment communities, saying “nothing should deny girls from accessing formal education”.
Mrs Opoku-Darko expressed appreciation to the World Gold Council for the support and commended NGGL for its commitment to the fund and pushing the holistic development of the mining communities and bettering the socio-economic livelihoods of the rural dwellers.
She said the foundation cherished its relations with the Ghana Education Service (GES), assuring its commitment to partner the Asutifi North District Directorate and Tano North Municipal Directorate of Education to improve academic environment for the school children.
Madam Marian Appiah, the Vice Chair of the Women and Allies, a business group within the NGGL that provides capacity building advised the girls to always wash their hands before and after changing their pads.
She also urged them to change their pads regularly, at least every four to six hours, to protect them against infections.
Mr Kofi Badu Yeboah, the Headmaster of the Kwakyekrom D/A Basic School thanked the foundation and its partners for the pads, saying that would sustain the interest of the girls in schools.
GNA
Edited by Dennis Peprah/George-Ramsey Benamba