ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, Yenagoa
A non-governmental organisation (NGO), She4She Initiative, has organised a social and medical outreach in Bayelsa State to sensitise young women on mental health and fitness, breastfeeding and pregnancy hygiene.
The beneficiaries were drawn from the eight local government areas of the state.
They were also trained on entrepreneurship, leadership, digital media and marketing skills as well as public speaking skills.
The two-day programme, which ended on Friday in Yenagoa, also featured a panel discussion focussing on leadership career pathway challenges for women at workplaces and tips on breaking barriers for young women.
Founder of She4She Initiative, Mrs Oyanbo Peace-Owei, said the organisation was focused on women and girl-child empowerment.
She said over 500 women were supported in terms of sensitisation and providing them with the items they need to take to the hospital for delivery.
For the breastfeeding women, she said they taught them about the importance of breast milk and options such as pumping and storing of breast milk and the different ways to ensure the child get maximum benefit of breastfeeding
She said the outreach was designed to “help women realise how intelligent and super they are,” stressing that all they need are the opportunities and facilities to activate their potential to make the society a better place.
Peace-Owei noted that women and the girl-child are faced with several challenges despite the fact that they are naturally created to handle multitasks.
She stated: “This is just one of the activities we have carried out this week. To mark the World Breastfeeding Day, we joined the United Nations to organise a session with pregnant and breastfeeding women in Azikoro village in the Yenagoa LGA of Bayelsa State.
“We had over 500 women that we supported in terms of sensitisation and providing them with the items they need to take to the hospital for delivery.”
In their separate remarks, member representing Southern Ijaw Federal Constituency of Bayelsa in the House of Representatives, Preye Oseke, and a former member of the state House of Assembly, Ms Vivian Ere, advised the participants to make good use of the knowledge they had gained from the workshop.
They also commended She4She Initiative for empowering the young women and urged the NGO to do a follow-up on the participants in order to monitor their progress.