It is estimated that three out of 10 girls in South Africa miss school during their periods each month. Due to this, young women from under-served communities often skip school and miss out on educational opportunities.
As part of its efforts to reverse these shocking statistics, Vuma, South Africa’s leading Fibre to the Home (FTTH) provider, has partnered with several schools in Tshwane to provide free sanitary pads to schoolgirls.
“Girls can be subjected to stigma or miss school due to difficulty managing their menstrual hygiene. Access to menstrual health products is a human right and this partnership with Vuma is just one way in which we can ensure that girls go to school with self-confidence and dignity,” says Evelyn Mondlana, a social auxiliary worker at Nesi and the main reseller for Vuma in Tshwane.
The drive began during Women’s Month and has seen Vuma deliver more than 1500 sanitary pads to several schools in the Tshwane area.
“Part of our core values includes the idea that no one gets left behind on our journey towards a better, connected future for all South Africans. Whenever I speak to our teams on the ground, the thing they always say is that young girls in various communities need sanitary pads. So, for us, part of not leaving people behind means helping provide pads to as many young girls as we can,” said Taylor Kwong, CSI Manager at Vuma.
Vuma’s Tshwane Sanitary School drive will also donate pads to Soshanguve East Secondary School and other schools in the community from December 9.
Kwong concludes: “As citizens of this country, we are committed to empowering ordinary people to be extraordinary. We want to help the nation build inclusive, connected lives, communities and societies and to do that, we must lead by example. This drive is just one way in which we are trying to do that.”