Joahannesburg – About 800 female pupils at Gatang Secondary School in Mamelodi East received sanitary towels on Thursday, thanks to a R180 000 donation by The Innovative Solutions Group.
The donation was made to the Mimi Pads Foundation for sanitary towels, which will keep 1000 girls in school for an entire year.
Each pupil received a year’s supply of sanitary towels – 12 packs – and Mimi founder and chief executive officer Ramona Kasavan said a lot of girsl missed 50 days of school each year due to lack of sanitary towels.
“The aim is not to provide every girl with sanitary towels; it it those from poor backgrounds and rural areas,” she said.
As sponsors, the Innovative Solutions Group, chose a school to receive the donation.
Its head of corporate social investment, Liza Trollip, said they chose Gatang as most of their employees’ children attended the school.
“We are also passionate about giving back to the community, hence we saw fit to give back to these young ladies,” she said.
Trollip urged pupils to go to school every day as they each had something to offer the world.
“It is rewarding to know that we make a difference in people’s lives. In the three years that we have been in business we have already managed to keep 28 000 girls in schools,” Kasavan said.
Life orientation teacher Johanna Sefara said she could not be happier for the pupils, especially as the sanitary towels would make a huge difference in their lives.
“Many of our learners are from poor backgrounds, so this will make a huge difference in their lives and to ours as teachers,” she said.
Sefara added that teachers now did not have to worry about pupils missing school as they had sanitary towels to cover them for the entire year.
“Usually I have few pads saved in my classroom to assist those who start menstruating while they are at school, but unfortunately I cannot help everyone as there were not enough."
"Thank you can never be enough to show our appreciation for this donation,” she said.
Mimi foundation is a non-profit organisation and South Africa’s first and only black female owned sanitary pad company.
The foundation looked to assist pupils who attended at no-fee schools, rural areas and those in desperate need for assistance.