Johannesburg - A girl without access to sanitary pads or tampons can miss up to 60 days of school a year.
Some of these girls from poor areas use socks, rags, towels, leaves, grass or even school notebook pages, Deputy Minister in the Presidency Buti Manamela said at the launch of the Dignity Dreams Nelson Mandela Day 18 000 sanitary packs programme.
The event was held at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory in Houghton, Joburg, on Wednesday.
Dignity Dreams is a bid to attain 18 000 reusable sanitary pads to donate to schoolgirls who can’t afford to buy sanitary wear and, therefore, miss out on school time and learning. The initiative aims to reach this target by July 18.
Makaziwe Kheswa, 11, a pupil at Inkwenkwezi Primary School in Diepkloof, Soweto, lives near a hostel and is one of the girls who received Dignity Dreams sanitary packs when they were handed out earlier this year.
Makaziwe said the initiative had helped her and many other girls at her school by giving them re-usable sanitary pads. She said conventional pads and tampons were too expensive for many girls in her impoverished neighbourhood.
“The re-usable pads are helpful for girls who can’t afford to buy the expensive ones every month,” said the Grade 7 pupil.
“The Dignity Dreams ones last longer and are stylish with beautiful patterns.
“The pads are comfortable since the cloth they are made of is soft,” Makaziwe added.
“They are simple to use and you will not be embarrassed when you wash them, because they come with a bag you can put them in when hanging them out.”
More than 2 million girls between the ages of 12 and 18 in the country live below the poverty line.
Manamela said he supported the initiative because providing sanitary towels enabled girls to attend school without interruptions.
“The lack of affordable sanitary products puts girls at a disadvantage in terms of education. Without sanitary products, they are excluded from their right of education. Every girl deserves access to safe and hygienic sanitary products,” he said.
“This is not just a women’s issue: it is a societal issue because it affects many girls in the country.
“It is not only a problem of the lack of sanitary products, it is also an issue of our girls losing opportunities to be empowered.”
Sandra Millar, the founder of Dignity Dreams, said their goal was to help girls and women to reclaim the dignity that poverty had denied them, and would enable girls to make a lasting and positive impact on the communities they live in and society in general.
She said the re-usable sanitary pads were sustainable, allowing girls to wash and re-use them rather than having to buy disposable pads every month.
“The social benefit of the implementation of this concept can greatly mitigate the disadvantages many disempowered girls endure during their process of maturing,” Millar added.
Re-usable sanitary pads were also environmentally friendly as opposed to the disposable ones that were sent to landfills or go through the sewerage system and end up polluting the oceans and beaches.
Millar also said Dignity Dreams was contributing to lowering unemployment by employing unskilled women in Pretoria, transferring skills and contributing to their economic empowerment.
The Dignity Dreams pads are manufactured in Pretoria and are South African Bureau of Standards-approved.
The Star