PAYNESVILLE – Hope Rising Heart Initiative (HRHI), a charity foundation, has launched its national health program in three high schools in Paynesville. The program aims to promote proper hygiene and good health practices among students on campus. The schools included in this initiative are Graceland Christian Academy -FDA, Bernard’s Farm, Harvester School of Prime System in FDA Community, Bernard’s Farm, and Lucy B. Gibson High Schools in Mount Barclay.
During the launch at Graceland Christian Academy in Bernard Farm, Alphia Faith Kemokai, the program manager of the Young Political Leadership School Africa (YPLSA), urged students to maintain a positive mindset and contribute to their country’s growth and development. She emphasized the importance of embracing menstrual cycles, resilience, striving for greatness, and promoting a healthy system in their schools.
“It is a good thing for you to watch your body and embrace your period,” she said while addressing the young female students. “I want to encourage you in life not to give up, and strive through the [menstrual] pain, but it will not strike your down. At the end, it produces beautiful things. In your school, I urge you to embrace this whole initiative that the health club is bringing to you, embrace it. Forget the old ways and incorporate the new ideas.”
The program, launched under the theme “Equipping Schools and Students to Improve School Health and Eradicate Menstrual Poverty in Liberia,” included a day-long hygiene, sanitation, and menstrual hygiene training workshop for 33 students and school administrators from the three high schools. These participants will become active members of their schools’ health clubs.
Lawrence JW. Sergbou, Country Director of the Hope Rising Heart Initiative, explained that the School Health Club Program aims to mobilize students and schools to improve school health and promote healthy living. In addition, he said the program focuses on establishing school health clubs and creating menstrual banks in high schools to address menstrual poverty, a global issue affecting millions of women and girls.
Sergbou outlined the program’s objectives, including promoting sexual and reproductive health education, building handwashing facilities, promoting behavioral change towards good hygiene practices, and eliminating menstrual poverty through accessible and affordable menstrual products for students.
HRHI, as a charity foundation, was founded to support disadvantaged communities through health, education, empowerment, and legal initiatives, particularly in rural and hard-to-reach areas, he added.