The
Tano South District Directorate of the department of Social Welfare and
Community Development has organized a one day workshop on Adolescent Reproductive Health for head porters in the Tano South District at
Bechem. The programme which saw the head porters drawn from all parts of the
district was also attended by pregnant women from Bechem and its environs.
Resource
Persons and participants in a group
photograph
In
an opening address, the Tano South District Director of Social Welfare, Mr.
Samuel Kyeremeh said the Ghana Government in collaboration with a
non-governmental organization in the United Kindom (Futures Group U.K currently
known as paradium) has introduced the Adolescent Reproductive Health as a
social intervention programme in the Brong Ahafo Region on the importance of
family planning.
The
Tano South District Director of Social Welfare, Mr. Samuel Kyeremeh giving his
opening remarks
Miss
Stephanie Boafo an Assistant Director IIB of the Tano South District Assembly who
stood in for the District Coordinating Director of the Assembly, Mrs. Agartha Ahia said kayaye
(head porters) and young women go through a whole lot of problems when carrying
out their daily activities and said the programme will help the vulnerable
people in the district to know the importance of family planning. She said
women contribute a lot in the socio economic development of every country and
urged women to send their children to school for them to become good leaders in
future.
Miss
Stephanie Boafo speaking at the workshop.
On
teenage pregnancy, Miss Eirene Obeng-Asare who took participant through the
topic said teenage pregnancy which is an unintended pregnancy of an adolescent
takes place after the start of puberty where mensuration is experienced by the
girl child and urged adolescents to be cautious of their dealings with men.
Miss
Eirene Obeng-Asare making a presentation at the workshop
Miss
Asare gave a number of factors including lack of parental control as some of
the causes of teenage pregnancy and mentioned that some of the western culture
which are copied by our girls does not do them any good but rather harm them
and did not complete her topic without mentioning peer influence which she said
was a major cause of the girls copying what their fellow girls were doing by
going into sexual relationship to feed themselves.
On
the female genitile mutilation, Miss Bevelyn Blankson mentioned female
mutilation as the process of removing the total external genitalia of female especially
girls for non-medical reasons.
Miss
Bevelyn Blankson speaking at the function
She
said this process has a lot of effects on physical, sexual and psychological
health of the female and urged participants to advise the public to desist from
such practices.