The Royal Daisy is an annual event organised by CARING FOR GIRLS WITH PERIOD INTITATIVE (GWP). The event is focused on expanding and sharing learning experiences among students from different schools. The students were engaged in several educational and fun activities such as debate, Interviews, quizzes, spelling bees, cultural dance and choreography, etc.

The second edition of The Royal Daisy was held on February 16, 2022, at the Tayo Adenirokun Auditorium, University of Lagos (UNILAG)

This year’s event was themed Let’s Talk Period, Puberty and Peer pressure (The 3Ps).

The event was graced with special guest speakers such as Adebola Williams, Grace-Charis Bassey, Bolanle Olukanni, Dayo Benjamins Laniyi, Adeoluwa Okusaga (Saga), Yusuf Garba (Yousef), Dr. Damian Avar (Sabi Doctor), Dr. Etiobhio Ose and Dr. Esther Somefun of The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Also in attendance at the event were media brands: The Guardian, This Day Live, News Flasher, Opera News, Bella Naija Online, The Eagle Online, Goldmyne TV, Silver Bird TV, Savy Media, ADG Media, and students from Seylek College, Samfra College, Yabatech Secondary School, Western College, Methodist Girls High School, West View College, Eben Noble College, Auguatine Anne College, Liham High School, and Branded College, amongst others.

The opening prayer was taken by one student each from Great Khalifa and Thonyx Immaculate Schools.

Chairman of the Board of directors for Girls with Period, Ifeoma ‘Oma Areh during her keynote speech stated their goal for the event. “A lot of young girls begin to loose their confidence in their teenage years. It is our goal with the Royal Daisy 2.0 to empower the girl child and reach hundreds of thousands and eventually millions of women and girls across Africa with our message”. She said

The event progressed shortly with Lisa Numa, a team member; she gave a speech about the organisation and the royal daisy seminar. She also urged all schools to be members of the Girls with Period School Club, stating its benefits.

Coming in with the welcome address, Ms Patricia Okopi (founder) stated how excited she was to be in the midst of these amazing students and their teachers who took out time from their busy schedules to grace this event. She also addressed the speakers who also has a passion for the girl child and talked about how it is a pressing concern for underprivileged females.

The guests spoke on topics ranging from period, puberty, press pressure, pad/menstrual hygiene, confidence, sexual reproductive health, Gender equality, Girl child education and empowerment etc.

‘‘Period and puberty are not a one-day thing, you learn, unlearn and relearn for years’’ Dr. Damian went in. He spoke on puberty and menstruation, and went on to answer questions from the girls. it was such an impactful session.

Students from De-Vickys College went in shortly with their cultural presentation depicting the Yoruba culture; they had the entire hall screaming and in awe. It was shortly followed by the first debate, “Single-sex schools are better for students,” between Methodist girls’ high school and Liham High school. Both schools came with strong points, but there can only be one winner. The judges, Otuwe Patience, Orewale Oluwatobi, and Abbah Margaret, after much deliberation, pronounced Methodist High School the winners.

Mrs. Dayo (Aunty D) during her session talked about peer pressure and confidence. ‘’I was a late bloomer; not seeing your period on time should not be a problem at this stage in your life,” she said. She made sure to let the girls know that their period is their superpower and went on to tell them not to fall prey to men; “at this stage in life, they just want to deceive you.”.

Students from Buffard Secondary School gave an amazing poem presentation. Still on raising strong and confident women, Ms. Bolanle went in with her story of how she was taller than all the boys in her class, which made them make fun of her. She advised that ladies should grow thicker skin at this age and not bow to peer pressure.

Grace-Charis Bassey went on to demonstrate how to properly fix and dispose of a pad with the help of a team member. Through the use of drama, she made sure to pass a message: “Say no to bullying.”.

Adebola Williams, who spoke on African Power Girls: Finding and Unlocking Your Greatness, which was inspired by his book “African Power Girls,” buttressed that the book centres on the stories of different African women who have made an impact and caused change in Africa and other parts of the world.

He further revealed that “African Power Girls” was written to inspire and empower a generation of ‘African Power Girls, and he gave out several copies to students who attended the Royal Daisy 2.0 event to empower the young students.

Packs containing sanitary products and stationery were distributed to everyone by Giving.ng, one of our sponsors of this event, and the Royal Daisy volunteers.

A quiz competition was held between students of Augustine Anne College, Yabatech Secondary School, West View College, and Prime Dalton, in which Yabatech emerged as the winners.

Dr Esther Somefun, during her speech, made sure to let everyone know that the UNFPA is strongly against genital mutilation of females, went further to drop helplines for anyone in distress, whether in cases of rape or any form of violence against women and gifted 2 students with the orange book, which contained the helplines amongst other important stuff.

The second debate, “sex education should be mandatory in secondary schools,” which was to be held between Branded college and Western College, was cancelled as Western College forfeited. Branded college (supporting) emerged winners.

Ex-BBNaija housemate Yousef spoke in his session about gender equality; he said “all genders should have equal rights, even the female gender, especially the female gender”. Adeoluwa Olusaga went further to talk about exercise. He didn’t fail to mention it’s importance and vastness. “There are exercises for everything: period cramps, good posture and general wellness,” he said while demonstrating these postures right there on stage.

The third debate, ”parents should make decisions about career choices for their children,” went in right after between Eben Noble college and West view college. Both parties had very strong points but students from West emerged winners, opposing the motion.

Our special regards go to the representatives of Ajilesoro foundation, our long-time partners, who, during the closing speech, talked about the great work we do with the scarce resources made available to us, They also made sure to let everyone know they look forward to doing more with us.

Medals and awards were presented to the winners of different categories and the invited guests, respectively, by the chairman of the board, Mrs Oma Areh. Refreshments were also distributed to everyone that attended during the course event, and Covid-19 protocols were duly observed.

ABOUT GIRS WITH PERIOD INITIATIVE

Access to safe and dignified menstruation is a fundamental yet trivial need for women and girls, especially in rural areas, prisons and among the disabled. GWP initiative has been able to support over 10,000 women and girls across Africa since establishment by providing and distributing sanitary and menstrual kits and educating them about menstrual healthcare and hygiene, sex education, importance of education and self-esteem, amongst others, with hopes of completely eradicating period poverty in Africa. To support GWP initiative, contact us at +2347065694161 or info@girlswithperiod.org