Bongo-Feo (U/E)-Ghana, Sept. 23, GNA – Pognaba Felicia Agamboka, the Queen Mother of Bongo-Feo community in the Bongo Traditional Area in the Upper East Region, is contributing to the fight against teenage pregnancies, early marriages and school drop outs in the community.
The Queen Mother in her quest to help reduce the menace of teenage pregnancy, formed a club, called the Virtuous Club in the community made up of girls aged 15 to 17 years, drawn from primary and junior high schools to sensitise them on sexual and reproductive health and rights and personal hygiene and development among others.
This, coupled with other interventions, had contributed to preventing many girls in the community from getting pregnant, marrying early and dropping out of school.
This came to light during one of the engagement forums organised by the Queen mothers at the Bongo-Feo community.
Many of the beneficiaries, who shared their testimonies about the benefits they derived from the club, saying it had helped them to stay in school and avoid pregnancy.
“The club through its sensitisation programme on sexual reproductive health, management of menstrual periods and to stay away from premarital sex among others has helped us a lot”, Ms. Kamaru Jemera, a 15-year -old class six pupil intimated.
Ms Emelia Agambika, 15-year-old Junior High School student, on her part, said unlike in the past, they no longer attended funerals and passing out ceremonies in the night, which led to many teenagers becoming pregnant.
Ms Nyaba Bashira, a 14-year-old girl in Junior High form two, who said she had leant a lot in managing her personal hygiene and how to keep the home and the environment clean, thanked the Queen mother for her good initiative.
Members also stated that the club had natured in them a sense of patriotism and good moral values such as how to respect parents, teachers and the elderly in the community as well as take their studies seriously.
Pognaba Agamboka explained that she decided to form the club because the district was recording high teenage pregnancies and early child marriages and the situation was adversely affecting the education of children, especially girls.
She explained that through weekly meetings of the club, where resource persons, including her, gave talks and sensitisation programmes on personal development.
She indicated since the formation of the club four years ago, many girls in Junior High schools in the area had transitioned into Senior High Schools without becoming pregnant unlike before.
She said she led the club to organise clean up exercises in the community periodically making the community clean.
She acknowledged the support of Community Development and Advocacy Centre (CODAC), UNICEF-Ghana, the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council and appealed to other development partners to help cover more girls in the area.
