The girls were taken through the importance of education and how it could change their lives, as well as the dangers of engaging in early sex.

They were also supplied with sanitary pads at the end of the programme.

Equal opportunities

Speaking on the theme: “The girl child, our time is now! Our right, our future,” a Managing Consultant and Deaconess of the PIWC, Mary Tobin Osei, emphasised the equal opportunities that existed for girls.

She said girls had equal rights to education and that the girl child was not inferior to their male counterparts.

Mrs Osei, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Kanko Associates, said leadership was not only meant for boys and men and therefore, as girls, they should aspire to be leaders in the society.

She said a woman could become president in Ghana if efforts and determination were put in educating the girl-child. she assured the girls, “You can attain any height in life. Women are developing themselves so much in education. Looking around now, most of the Vice-Chancellors of our public universities are women”.

She cautioned the young girls against lesbianism, advising them never to think of going in for a transgender and neither consider marrying their fellow women.

Abstinence

A clinical psychologist, Vida Asah Ayeh, answered questions bothering the girls and advised them to abstain from engaging in sex, especially when they were not ready, since the likelihood of getting pregnant was high.

She noted that seeking affection from peers could lead them to taking decisions that would not help them, and advised them to confide in their parents instead.

Observing the Breast Cancer Awareness of October, a community health nurse from the Ga East Health Directorate, Margaret Kanabo, took the girls through the signs and symptoms of breast cancer.

She taught them how to examine their breasts, stressing the need for them to report any sign to the hospital, instead of resorting to any form of treatment.