A beauty queen with a cause
JOBURG – Mrs SA first princess Olwethu Leshabane's project addresses young girls' sanitation issues.
Mrs South Africa’s first princess and media entrepreneur, Olwethu Leshabane, is the woman behind the Red Wings Project, which aims to highlight the lack of menstrual education and the fact that many poor women and girls are unable to access sanitary towels.
This year, the organisation hopes to reduce the number of girls who do not attend school while on their menstrual cycles due to a lack of running water, adequate toilet facilities or feminine hygiene products.
Read The plight of the South African child
Leshabane, a model and presenter, created Red Wings in 2014. “I am very passionate about women development and empowerment. I formed an organisation that collects sanitary pads and we donate them to underprivileged young women. This organisation also speaks to the lack of adequate menstrual education and facilities available to underprivileged women and girls in Africa.” According to Leshabane, most girls in this situation will stay at home during their menstrual cycle rather than go to school as they do not have access to sanitary towels.
“I started the project because female hygiene should be at the top of policy issues. This means encouraging people to talk openly about menstrual health everywhere. We engage with schools via talks, with the public using media, including social media, and we also meet with government and other relevant stakeholders.”
The project often engages in school talks with young girls during their developmental phase. “The change in a girl’s body and entrance into womanhood is a phase that can make or break her confidence. We have found that it is at this stage that girls feel they have lost control of themselves and do not understand their bodies,” she said.
“We try to bridge this gap and speak to young girls and answer some of their questions in the most engaging, sisterly and confidence-building way. We have seen so many young girls’ lives change.”
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