The Association of Professional Women in Engineering (APWEN), Abuja chapter has joined other stakeholders to commemorate the 2021 Global HandWashing Day, while also encouraging young girls to take up engineering courses in schools.
The Global HandWashing Day is an international handwashing promotion campaign commemorated annually on Oct. 15 to motivate and mobilise people around the world to improve their handwashing habits.
The association in collaboration with Blitz Solutions Global Concept and Tamansuwa Sanitation Water and Rural Development Initiative (TAMSWARD) took the campaign to the Junior Secondary School, Area 11.
The 2021 commemoration has the theme “ Our Future is at Hand, Let’s Move Forward Together “.
Mrs Charity Joseph-Ojobo, Chairman of the Abuja Chapter of the association, said that hand washing was critical to human livelihood, hence the need to take our hygiene serious.
Joseph-Ojobo, pledged the association’s determination to provide solutions to the students in the area of mentorship that would ignite the passion for studying engineering courses.
Mrs Lynda Bitrus, a member of the association tasked the students to take advantage of the mentorship programme offered by the association and refocus their thinking towards the study of engineering as a profession.
According to her, there is need to gather the students together to sensitise them on the need to always observe better hygiene on daily basis even as the COVID-19 is still with us.
“The association taught it wise to commemorate this day by visiting the school to educate the students about the importance of the global hand washing day especially with the advent of COVID-19.
“As students, we need to help ourselves and carry the information to our families on proper measures to provide hygiene for the country,” she said.
Also, the Principal of the school, Mrs Fatimah Gold, commended the association and partners for always finding time to encourage the students of the school.
Gold promised the association that in the next five years, more girls of the school would become engineers to solve the problems of the society.
According to her, engineering should not only be for male students, female students should begin to develop interest in the learning of engineering course and build a career from it.
The event feature quiz competition, demonstration of proper hand washing, distribution of hand washing liquid to all participants and presentation of certificates to partners.
Also, 12 students of the school who took part in the quiz competition went home with gifts of writing materials. (NAN)
