Girls receive donation of reusable sanitary towels

In recent times, the term “period poverty” has become something of a buzzword. It refers to the inability of many girls and young women to afford sanitary products which results in some of them staying home from school when they are menstruating.

Many organisations, however, are working to overcome this, and many products are being developed to reduce the cost for these young women.

One of these is the reuseable sanitary towel. And two weeks ago Palesa Pads donated buckets of these reuseable products, which can last as long as five years, to every girl at Vuyiseka High School in Philippi.

There was sheer excitement among the pupils as each was given a bucket which contains four pads and everything needed to clean them.

Teacher Noloyiso Kabingesi said she expected that the donation would reduce absenteeism, and therefore contribute to improving the girls’ education experience.

“I’m of the belief that pads should be freely available for young girls because it is expensive to buy them,” she said.

“I do feel the brunt of buying pads as a working professional. I therefore ask myself how much more for parents who are not working who have to buy pads for their girl child.

“But I also appreciate such initiatives because they educate the girl child and boy that this is natural. I firmly believe that there should be more of these campaigns which seek to empower the girl child,” she said.

Ms Kabingesi said teachers sometimes had to buy pads for the pupils.

Palesa Pads CEO, Sherie de Wet, said the company manufactured reusable pads and had an affiliated non-government profit organisation by the same name which donates the pads to schools throughout the country.

The aim was to ensure that no girl was forced to skip school during her period.

When she started manufacturing these sanitary towels, she said, she wanted to ensure that no girl felt embarrassed or humiliated about not having pads.

In the beginning, she said, many people had not been keen to use reusable pads – and she knew that if she was to convince them, she would need to use them herself.

“We want to keep every girl in school. We want these young girls to understand that there is absolutely nothing wrong with having periods. We want the community to understand the importance of donating sanitary towels to the girl child,” she said.

Pupil Nobesuthu Nqodi, said she was grateful for the donation.

Founder and director of #weneedtogetinvolved, Portia Socikwa, said she had asked Palesa Pads to lend a helping hand to the school.