Education will take you places that you could only dream of - Journalist tells Muslim girls

Mentors from the Muslimah Mentorship Network held another Mentorship session with students of the Abubakar Siddiq Islamic School at Ashaley Botwey in Ghana's capital, Accra.

The theme for this month's mentorship was "the Importance of education (both secular and Islamic) and menstrual health".

The session kicked off with a beautiful Quranic recitation from one of the students in the person of Sister Aisha. After that Ms Zainab Alhassan took the girls through the need to take their education serious and why they should always strive for the best.

She mentioned that the key to success in life as young children lies in prayers, hardwork and determination. She also added that young women are mostly undermined when it comes to excelling in education and career advancement and urged them to make sure they work hard. "Work hard and become the beacon of hope for your family, community and the whole country", Miss Alhassan said.

The guest speaker, Umaru Sanda Amadu of Citi fm/TV, spoke to the girls about the importance of education. He stressed on the importance of the English language and how all should endeavor to speak it and speak it well, as it is the lingua Franca of Ghanaians. He further explained how education is the leveler of all classes of people. "It is your education that will take you places that you could only dream of", he stressed.

As someone who came from humble beginnings himself the journalist stated that education had given him the opportunity to sit at the same table with influential and powerful people, adding that, if he, a cowboy from a village could do it, then each and everyone of those girls could too.

"Never take your prayers for granted as we are nothing without God”, he concluded.

The founder of the Muslimah Mentorship Network, Bilkis Nuhu Kokroko for her part took the girls through the nitty gritty of menstruation. She started with how to use a sanitary pad and how to dispose it off. She talked about best practices to keep oneself neat and tidy during the menstrual cycle.

She got the girls involved in the whole process which made it very interactive and impactful. Some misconceptions about menstruation and how to tackle them, the importance of abstinence and how to protect oneself from teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases were also discussed.

The ABC's which refers to abstenance, Being faithful and using Contraceptives were discussed but the girls were offered the option of sticking with abstinence as it was the surest way to stay away from any form of infections.

Time was allotted for questions and answers which resulted in a healthy discourse.

To close the ceremony, one of the teachers, Mallam Ali Mohammed Jibril thanked the team and reiterated the importance of women leading such discussions and how beneficial it is for the girl child.