KwaBhekilanga girl learners in Alex urged not to let their ‘flow stop their go’
Air Products sponsored girls in two schools in Alexandra and Thembisa with sanitary pads as part of an effort to ensure they keep the girl child in schools even during their menstrual period.
On August 11 as part of Women’s Month, Air Products handed out a three-month supply to more than 2 000 learners at two Johannesburg schools KwaBhekilanga Secondary School in Alexandra and the Ingqayizivele Secondary School in Thembisa.
All in all they delivered more than 12 000 sanitary towels because as an organisation, they believe in supporting the communities in which they operate and strive toward assisting where possible, regardless of the sensitivities, Arthi Govender, chairperson of the CSI committee at Air Products told Alex News during the handover at KwaBhekilanga.
“Air Products’ sponsorship initiatives are primarily centred on the youth and education. The statistics on the number of school days missed by female learners annually as the result of their menstrual cycle is alarming, and we would really like to improve this situation,” said Govender, adding that there were numerous female learners who fall behind in their school work to such an extent that they drop out of school completely.
She said girl learners generally find anything related to their menstrual cycles as personal and sensitive, regardless of their age or demographic group. “What we aim to achieve through this initiative, is to provide every female learner with the support and encouragement to embrace womanhood and to live their lives with confidence, hope and dignity. They should not allow anything to stand in their way of education.”
Last year, Air Products launched their ‘Flow Campaign’ as the corporate social investment committee provided funds for much-needed sanitary products for female learners. The funding was allocated following the realisation that there is an enormous number of female learners in South Africa who miss a number of school days every month during their menstrual cycle due to the lack of sanitary products.
The tagline of the ‘Flow Campaign’, ‘Don’t let their flow stop their go’ was deemed appropriate as many learners literally stay at home for the duration of their cycle. “The idea behind this campaign is to help learners attend school during their cycle,” Govender said.
“This year, we have aligned our donations to Women’s Day to show the learners that being a woman is a privilege and womanhood needs to be celebrated. We hope that our donations will have a positive impact on the learners”.
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