Inspirational Women: Michelle fights for women’s dignity and education

IN celebration of National Women’s Month the Northglen News will be honouring several heroines who have been striving to improve the lives of fellow South African countrymen as well as our furry companions. Through the series we hope to inspire others through these women’s selfless and tireless work within the community. Every year South Africa commemorates Women’s Month in August as a tribute to the more than 20 000 women who marched to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956 in protest against the extension of Pass Laws to women.

The first nomination for the Inspirational Women feature is 17-year-old Michelle Currie, who has, for the past 12 years, been rallying donor support for Zulusponsor, an organisation based in Eshowe.

The Umhlanga Ridge resident’s impact at the community has fostered a sense of hope among the residents, inspiring many of the youth to strive for a better future, through education. Some of these young people have now returned to the community and are ‘paying it forward’.

Now, the teen is on a mission to rally a massive sanitary product collection drive for the young women in the Eshowe area.

The lack of these products, which many women take for granted, she said, was robbing hundreds of these young women of their dignity and education.

“These young girls are often forced to stay away from school, simply because they don’t have access to these sanitary products. This concerns me, because if these women do not get a proper education how will they lift themselves out of poverty, and how will this cycle ever end?” she asked. Leaves, cotton, toilet paper and even newspaper is often used as replacement, she added.

According to Currie, who is matric this year, these girls miss an average of one week of school per month. “If you miss more than 10 days of school without a doctor’s note the government won’t allow you to write your finals, which means you can’t matriculate,” she said.

Thus far Currie has received a R2 500 donation from a local lodge, which she will use to buy reusable pads for 31 women. She has challenged her fellow teens and community to support the drive.

“We need to be investing in these girls’ futures, because they are our country’s future. For all we know one of them might hold the cure to cancer or become our first female president,” she said. Contact Michelle via e-mail on ecurrie@mweb.co.za.