Portia Owusu
(RN-BSN)
Founder
I began in the red dust of my own childhood, where silence was a muzzle and secrets were a weight. I remember the paralyzing stigma that accompanied my transition into womanhood, the suffocating pressure of a society that told girls to stay small. In 2018, I founded the Me Bra Ho Hia Foundation, a name in my local dialect that translates to Menstrual Period Matters. I started by providing sanitary pads because I knew that a lack of basic hygiene was a cage that prevented brilliant young minds from entering the sanctuary of the classroom. I was that girl. I knew then, as I know now, that a pad is not just a product; it is a passport to education and a shield against the shame that seeks to dim a girl's light. But as I grew, I began to see that the cage had many bars. I realized that focusing only on menstrual health was a limit that didn't account for the full spectrum of a woman's survival. My journey took me from serving as a midwife in Ghana to becoming a registered nurse in the United States, and in that transition, the vision expanded. I saw the devastating "clinical click" of late-stage breast and cervical cancer. I watched mothers and sisters fade away from diseases that could have been caught if someone had simply built a fortress for them. I looked at my own mother, a widow who navigated the debris of loss with a strategic grace, and I saw young girls silenced by abuse in all its forms. To capture the magnitude of these needs, the Me Bra Ho Hia Foundation evolved into Her Health Global Networks Inc. This transition was not a journey I took alone. I was uplifted by the hands of others, by people whose donations and support believed in the "Third Daughter" when the world told her to remain a ghost. Their generosity was the mortar that allowed me to move from the shadows of the village to the global stage. Today, we are no longer just fighting for a girl's period; we are fighting for her life, her health, and her economic sovereignty. I was helped to find my voice so that I could become the echo for those still silenced. "I began by giving a girl a way to stay in school; I am finishing by giving the woman she becomes a reason to stay alive."
HONORING OUR ROOTS
"We stand on the shoulders of those who believed in the beginning." Before we were a global network, we were a community of believers. We want to extend a profound thank you to the original donors of the Me Bra Ho Hia Foundation. Your early investments in menstrual hygiene and girl-child education are the reason we can now offer comprehensive clinical screenings and economic grants. You proved that when you help one woman find her voice, she creates an echo that spans continents.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Our mission is guided by the following principles:
- Compassion: We believe in treating all individuals with kindness, respect, and dignity
- Empowerment: We believe in empowering individuals and communities to take control of their own lives and futures
- Integrity: We believe in operating with transparency, accountability, and integrity
- Excellence: We believe in striving for excellence in all that we do
CORE VALUES
Our core values are:
- Respect for all individuals and communities
- Commitment to social justice and equality
- Passion for making a positive difference in the world
- Collaboration and partnership with others