International Day of the Girl Child: Powered by Queen Luciano Foundation
Queen Luciano Foundation, visited schools to celebrate International Day of the Girl Child where they engage students of St. Louis in Akure City and Emotan College in Benin City on menstrual hygiene, female leadership talks.
Female children have been encouraged to rise above all man-made limitations attached to their gender, be courageous and focus on achieving their aspirations and dreams in life, and be determined to change the narrative about the womenfolk. And raise awareness of issues facing girls and the way forward, focusing on the theme for the year: Investing in Girls’ Rights: Our Leadership and Well-being.
Stakeholders at the 2023 International day of the girl child celebration, organised by Queen Luciano Foundation and in collaboration with Rotary Club of Akure Prestige, Rotary Club of Ondo- Adeyemi college, gave the aforementioned words of encouragement at St. Louis grammar school, Akure, on Wednesday.
Addressing the school girls, President of Rotary Club of Akure Prestige, Rotarian Omolola Fadumiye, informed that the event was part of the initiatives of the Rotary club International to cater for the well-being of girls.
Highlighting the core missions of the club, she said: “Rotary is the world best humanitarian service organisation. It’s a service organisation where members focus their time, energy, and resources into helping the next person. What we do is to support basic education and literacy. We help in maternal and child health, and we help to support our environment. Help in building peace, conflict resolution, and prevention. We also help in disease prevention and management. “
Speaking to the theme of the programme, “Invest in Girls’ Rights: Our Leadership, Our Well being,” the Project Manager of Queen Luciano Foundation, Mrs. Similoluwa Ajidahun encouraged girls to always speak up and pursue leadership roles without being timid, noting that leadership is gender-neutral.
She further advised them on the need to invest on themselves by prioritising their goals and refuse to believe the misconceptions that some professions and skills are mainly preserved for boys.
The President of Rotary Club of Ondo Adeyemi college, Rotarian Olaitan Taiwo, while taking them through menstrual hygiene, described menstruation as a normal maturation stage which they should not be ashamed of.
During the menstrual hygiene session, which was interactive in nature, the girls were taught precautionary measures towards having a healthy and infection-free menstrual period, including the proper way to dispose their used sanitary pads, diets and personal hygiene.
The Rotary District Governor-nominee, Rotarian Funke-Akpo Batife, affirmed that the only difference between a girl and a boy child was the reproductive organs, and thereby, charged them to pursue any career of their choice with ‘I can do spirit’.
The school’s counsellor, Mrs. Akinde Oluyemisi , who spoke on behalf of the school management, commended the Queen Luciano Foundation and Rotary Club’s gesture, describing it as inspiring and appealed for more of such girl’s impacting programme in the society.
The event featured free distribution of sanitary pads to the participating girls.
In attendance is the Akure Branch and Benin Branch General Managers of Queen Luciano Foundation, who congratulated girls on their day, Mr. Tope Adaramola Joseph and Mr. Ebube Joseph Mmadueke some male Rotarians who provided moral support like Rotarian Gbadebo Oyewo, Rotarian Gbenga Oke , amongst others.
