Cape Town - Leading up to World Menstrual Hygiene Day, former international cricketer JP Duminy and his wife, Sue, joined the Clicks Helping Hand Trust to hand over sanitary products to girls at Silikamva High School in Imizamo Yethu, Hout Bay, on Tuesday.
More than 3 000 Libresse sanitary pad packs, 900 Gynaguard wipe packs, and 1 000 hand surface sanitiser sprays from EF-Active were distributed.
World Menstrual Hygiene Day is to take place on May 28.
The distribution forms part of the Clicks Helping Hand Trust Girls on the Go campaign, to donate 600 000 sanitary products to 16 schools and non-profit organisations nationwide, amounting to more than R1 million.
As brand ambassadors for EF-Active, the Duminys said it was important for them to support the campaign.
“It's a normal part of life yet it's also such a taboo thing and to serve these young women in a cause by saying, we’re with you in this, everyone is with you in this, regardless, men or women, and we support you,” Sue said.
“As my wife mentioned, she realises how important this is and what major effect it has on young women, particularly from a schooling perspective, not being able to attend school when they’re going through their cycle,” added JP.
Deputy principal Nonzameko Lungapi said the school had witnessed girls stay out of school because of the inaccessibility of sanitary products.
“It (donation) will help because if you look at the environment, parents are not working.”
She said the need for hygiene products has become more dire due to Covid-19.
“We are dealing with learners that have a lot of social challenges, so you’ll see that there are a lot of drop outs. It touches me more because with a female child you know that when the child is not educated, there’ll be more problems.”
The products will be distributed to learners from Grades 8-12.
Clicks chief store operations officer Sedick Arendse said the national yearly campaign started in 2018. This year, seven schools in the Western Cape had been identified as beneficiaries.
“We are community based, and one of the campaigns we very strongly feel about is the sanitary pads campaign. Because we are a community based retailer, the one thing we support is education first. Second, we believe there is no need for a child to not go to school,” Arendse said.
Obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Sibu Lubelwana, representing Libresse, said: “As a gynae, I work with girls a lot and I know how much of a need it is in the communities. It's very dire.
“I come across girls that come into the rooms using toilet paper, old socks, old ragged clothes, so that obviously can interfere with their health.
“Some girls miss school because they don't have the proper sanitary products,” Lubelwana said.