For the girls at Sandringham High School support for their navigation through womanhood was demonstrated in the form of sanitary pads donations. Non-governmental organisation (NGO) Imbumba Foundation donated 1 449 pads to the school.
Imbumba Foundation project assistant Thandeka Nxusa said the NGO has a lot of projects. “We have Caring for Girls whereby we distribute sanitary towels to the girls. In this case, we had the Million Comforts which is a project whereby all the Dis-Chem stores in South Africa encourage people to buy pads and those pads are donated to our NGO,” Nxusa explained.
She added that each year they have a target of 67 000 girls to reach and Sandringham was part of that target.
Deputy principal at Sandringham High School, Shami Lilram said when she started as the deputy principal this year, one of the members of staff brought to her attention that the girls were always requesting sanitary towels. “Many of them can’t afford it and they miss school.
“We also find girls tend to say that they’re sick and they have severe period cramps during the course of the school day. So I made it my mission at that point to ensure we try and get some sanitary towels we can give to our girls.”
Lilram added that after researching online, she found the Imbumba Foundation which runs the sanitary pads distribution programme. After the foundation asked for certain statistics and information, which the school provided to them, immediately the foundation gave a
rollout. “We have 483 girls in the school and every girl is going to get three months’ supply of sanitary towels.”
The deputy principal also appealed for any sponsorships or donations of hygiene items or any project that supports girls. She added that they would also just appreciate sanitary towel contribution to the school, not necessarily for every single girl but to the school in case of emergencies.
Representative Council of Learners (RCL) president Refiloe Radebe expressed her gratitude, and said, “For this to happen is very good because girls need to remember that it’s a normal part of life and they don’t need to stop anything just because they’re going through what they’re going through. The young ones will also learn how to deal with it for them to be able to navigate through womanhood with such support is amazing.”
Filler: Share your school projects by email to naidines@caxton.co.za
Related articles:
Play your part in providing schoolgirls with feminine hygiene products
