By Omiti JaRongo

Winyo Aids care support Group in partnership with the ministry of health has now launched a drive to ensure women and girls in Rongo sub-county benefit from sanitary towels.

The drive will see More than 20,000 women and girls from the area benefit from the exercise.
Speaking in Rongo yesterday during the Launch, the Organization’s director Laurence Ngoje said that many women and school going girls have had a challenge in managing their menstrual cycles since they have lucked the basic item for long time.

He said the exercise is a tool to empower women and girls in the community and ensure that they live a healthy life as well as allow girls to attend school without any hindrance.
He has however encouraged learning institutions to ensure girl child education is embraced and given priority at all times.

He asked communities that were still practicing outdated beliefs that girls could only do domestic work as their male counterparts were given responsibility task and taken to school to acquire knowledge and skills that would enable them have a steady source of livelihood for their families is misplaced.

“Days when women and girls were discriminated against are long gone and societies need to change that attitude ignoring women who could perform better to improve living standards for the vulnerable families must be corrected through quality education,” he reiterated.

The organization has however outlined major challenges that have previously deprived those girls from seeking knowledge in various capacities in the society such as experience monthly circles,

“Women and girls physical and socioeconomic needs schemes must be put in place to ensure they stay in peace with the rest of the community members,” Ngoje added.

Stanley Aranda the Rongo public health officer however noted that just like the males, the female also requires community involvement saying the sanitary towels provided to girls have built self worth in them and created a lot of ease to parents who would otherwise not have afforded the same due to high poverty index in the catchment areas.

He further informed the community that time has come that everyone needs to work had regardless of the status in seeing that their living standards are improved.

Aranda said that the health department will always do its part on ensuring that health matters are conveniently handled as a way of improving productivity in the society.

He urged other agencies to emulate the move and visit the societies that have been neglected to dig out norms and customs that are still being practiced in those areas hence denying several of them opportunity of competing favorably on socio economic activities for realization of vision 2030.

More than 250,000 were used in purchasing of the items with the organization also sponsors educational scholarship to various children in primary, secondary and universities to reach their dreams in education.