30/09/2023
On the 20th of June this year, three volunteers from the Society of Women Engineers namely Mr. Kassani Ponjegi, Miss. Angela D Wally and Mr. Junior Ihania joined the Days for Girls Morobe consisting of President Mrs. Jean Vava and her team to do the first round of female hygiene awareness in the primary schools of the Bulolo District. Days for Girls (DfG) is a non-profit organization which aims to help young pubescent females feel confident in the fact that experiencing menstruation is a natural part of human development and there shouldn’t be any shame or discrimination around it.
The visitation saw them distribute free reusable kits provided by DfG. The kits contain sets of reusable pads and sleeves to secure them in, underwear, soap, a waterproof bag, a mini period tracking chart and a hand towel. Their first set of kits were given to the girls of Bundun Primary School, followed by Zepa Primary School, Sambio Primary, Bulolo International School and finally Bayune Primary School.
In a span of two days, a total of five schools were visited. Initially, a lot more was planned to visit but the primary schools in the area had already closed for the term 2 holidays.
"Volunteering as an act of serving is something I'm always willing to do and through DfG's initiative I was able to get out and do just that. To serve is such a humbling experience and in this case also lessons of gratitude were taught," expressed SWE volunteer Miss Wally.
SWE volunteer Mr Ihania described the experience as emphatic and challenging. He said, "It was emphatic and challenging as well, when you try to put yourself in the shoes of your female counterparts , and then try to explain the challenges they face to young males so they can see and feel what the females face."
We thank Days for Girls Morobe President Mrs Jean Vava for giving our SWE volunteers the opportunity to be part of such an eye-opening experience, and we thank our SWE volunteers for sacrificing a few days of their semester break to give back to the community in such a way.
