SDC St. Thomas Takes ‘It’s A Girl’s Thing’ To Robert Lightbourne High

Four months after the launch of ‘It’s a Girl’s Thing’, a programme targeting adolescent female hygiene and personal care, the St. Thomas office of the Social Development Commission (SDC) has taken the initiative to a second school in the parish.

On Tuesday (September 29), 70 female students at the Robert Lightbourne High School in Western St. Thomas benefited from the initiative, which seeks to promote personal hygiene, menstrual health, confidence and self-care.

The programme was first executed at Paul Bogle High School earlier in May.

Parish Manager for SDC St. Thomas, Lorian Peart-Roberts, said the aim of the entity is to reach all six high schools in the parish.

In addition to the highly engaging presentations, participating girls also received care packages with assistance from sponsors and other agencies.

The gift packages contained items such as sanitary products, deodorant, hairbrushes, wipes, soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste, among other personal-care supplies.

Mrs. Peart-Roberts said that as a social development entity in communities, the SDC “has recognised that a number of youngsters are very challenged in St. Thomas”.

She pointed out that despite the financial challenges affecting some families, personal hygiene should remain important, noting the potential impact on students’ self-esteem and social interactions.

“Self-esteem issues can be affected because of these things and so, we don’t want that to be a label that they are carrying. We know what their economic status is and we don’t want to add to that,” Mrs. Roberts said.

She further noted that the current water restrictions brought on by the ongoing drought can also make maintaining good hygiene a challenge for some students.

“We’re just reminding them that even though you have these things happening, [hygiene] is very important to prevent isolation for some students because they feel that they’re being scorned. We’re just here to reassure them that if you do these minor things, it doesn’t have to reach that level. We can’t give them all the things that they need in a continuous way, but just to ensure that they are aware what it is that they need and to see how we can assist,” Mrs. Peart-Roberts said.

Participating agencies on the initiative included the National Council on Drug Abuse, the Ministry of Health and Wellness, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, and others.

SDC St. Thomas is appealing to corporate Jamaica for assistance as it seeks to extend the programme to the remaining four high schools in the parish.

Interested persons and organisations can call 876-549-1180 to contribute to the initiative.

In the meantime, Mrs. Roberts also disclosed plans for a similar initiative targeting boys, tentatively called “It’s a Man Ting”, which she hopes to host in February.

Principal of Robert Lightbourne High, Ricardo Morgan, hailed the initiative for contributing positively to the female population at the institution.

“We consider it a privilege to have the SDC share with our students through this initiative and to provide information that will certainly be useful to them as females and to take back home to share with their relatives and so on. We’re looking forward to them being productive citizens as they grow and if we have youngsters now who are armed with information and not misinformation, I think we are good to go,” Mr. Morgan said.