Period poverty is a global issue affecting women and young girls who do not have access to safe, hygienic sanitary products and who are unable to manage their periods with dignity, sometimes due to community stigma. In Ghana, this is a prevailing issue in rural areas. ARIS MYP 4 Year 10 Eagles decided to raise some money to provide 100 young women with a two month supply of sanitary pads.

The Eagles collaborated with Girl In Lead Initiative, a local NGO that champions period poverty, and has taken it upon themselves to provide and educate young girls and women in rural areas about safe and hygienic ways to manage periods.

With the goal of raising 2500 GHS towards this cause, the Eagles reached out to several sponsors and the ARIS Community for support.

It was beautiful to see the Eagles, both girls, and boys, work passionately and collaboratively to raise funds and to buy sanitary pads for the cause. In their bid to raise the funds, they went personally to Fairway Ghana, who offered to cover the whole cost of the fundraiser, offering 2500 GHS. They also got a donation of 1500 GHS from the Chairman of the ARIS Board, Mr. Nouhad Khalmoni, and another donation was made by the Director of ARIS, Dr. Fatma Odaymat, of $100.00.

All in all the students raised a whopping amount of 6197 GHS, exceeding their target to the surprise of the NGO! They successfully purchased a total of 700 packs of sanitary pads, and altogether with the NGO, a total amount of 900 packs of sanitary pads were raised.

Pads, hand sanitizers, wipes and tissues were donated to young women and girls of the Jirapa Municipal District in the Upper West Region, and to girls of the Tampore DA Junior School and Kompore JHS.

As a school, we are absolutely proud of this group of MYP 4 Year 10 Eagles, who showed passion, innovation, reflection and of course the core value of service to everyone, in order to fulfill this project of transformation that is definitely making a positive impact in the lives of these young women and girls.

A huge thank you to all the donors, especially Fairway Ghana, Mr. Nouhad Khalmoni, and Dr. Fatma for their immense support, and to all who donated one way or the other. You are fulfilling our quest to Inspire, Empower and Transform for a better world!