Umqhele Comprehensive Secondary School held an empowerment session called Smart Girls Rock which was sponsored by African Bank and was made possible by South African Airways.
The bank is already involved with the school, having launched a mentorship programme for top pupils earlier this year.
School principal, Lekgoathi Otto said many girls missed school days every month due to the lack of access to sanitary products. Otto furthermore said the aim of the event was to motivate young girls to become better women and take over the baton that was left by Lillian Ngoyi, Sophie de Bruyn and other women who were part of the liberation of the country.
The event featured various speakers of South African Airways who spoke about the numerous career opportunities offered by the parastatal. African Bank was represented by its senior manager Theo Milazi and Kennedy Dembetembe, the national CSI manager of African Bank Development Trust.
Dembetembe said the bank believed that every girl in South Africa deserved access to safe and hygienic sanitary products, particularly in the final grades which were so critical for tertiary education. “If we can help make a small difference and make a positive impact on these young lives, we can eliminate many of the taboos that still exist and help reduce the high number of school absenteeism and drop-outs which still exists in many schools around the country,” said Dembetembe.
African Bank has pledged to donate R10 000 worth of sanitary towels to the school every quarter to ensure that every girl in the school is able to attend their classes every day.
Thanks to the generosity of Makro, Edcon and Famous Brands, the girls enjoyed an informative two-hour session and all received goodie packs with sanitary pads and gifts from Red Square.
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