Missing school or carrying a sense of shame will be a thing of the past for young girls at Zola Secondary school in Khayelitsha after a donation and a commitment to support them with sanitary pads for the rest of the year.
Imbumba Foundation together with Fourways Acon visited the school to hand over six months’ worth of sanitary pads and promised to boost it further to last for a year.
The Foundation runs the Caring4Girls programme to support young girls with sanitary pads and to highlight the importance of hygiene and education.
It is estimated that about 3.7 million girls are unable to afford sanitary pads in the country according to research conducted by the University of Stellenbosch, about 30% of learners miss school while on their periods.
Speakers at the event acknowledged the impact of the outbreak of Covid-19, when school days were drastically reduced, making the need for curriculum recovery more critical and thus the need to keep the girl in school also imperative.
A learner at the school, Sinovuyo Kasi,17, said receiving pads would now help many girls in the school.
“The lack of sanitary pads is still taboo in our school. There are a few girls who send me to the teachers’ office to ask for pads for them because they are shy to ask for them. Having these packages will help eliminate guilt and shame for many girls who don’t have them,” said Kasi.
School principal, Xolela Mjondowana said initiatives such as Caring4Girls went beyond just receiving something that the girls needed.
“This is an opportunity for the learners to also witness what the spirit of volunteerism, free-giving, and generosity is all about. At the end of the day, they are the future of the country. It will be up to them to give freely to any of the learners that will be in need one day,” Mjondwana said.
The Caring4Girls programme has empowered over 1.2 million adolescent girls with feminine hygiene products, and menstrual health and hygiene education, since the programme’s inception a decade ago.
The organisation’s annual summit of Kilimanjaro on Mandela Day, through the Trek4Mandela expedition, brings together inspired individuals and corporates to support the worthy cause.
One of the participants in the 2021 Trek4Mandela, Amanda Takis, said she was looking forward to being part of initiative that will make a change in young lives. “I never could have hoped that my passion for participating in this climb would inspire such call to action and such a tremendous response. I am really humbled to be able to make a difference for so many girls, especially in the hard times we are facing.”