Schoolgirls welcome gift of pads

NGOs donate 3 months of protection to each of 242 female pupils

“This could not have come at a better time.”

These were the words of Funiwe Senior Secondary principal Phumlani Nkula after the KwaKuni village school outside King William’s Town received a donation of sanitary towels for schoolgirls last week.

Parents normally club together and give the school R10 per household, which the school uses to buy sanitary towels for more than 200 girl pupils.

But last Thursday, NGO Kusasa Lethu Group and Buffalo City Care Givers donated three packs of sanitary towels per child to 242 schoolgirls.

“Words can’t explain my excitement. We are very thankful to every organisation that came to bless us with these sanitary With our minimum budget we have had to make provision for sanitary towels for our girls on a monthly basis,” said Nkula.

He said most of the pupils come from households that rely on social grants.

Founder Zolisa Boza of Kusasa Lethu Group, an NGO from Khayelitsha in the Western Cape, Khaya Qikane and Bongani Makeleni said they felt the need to assist even though the road to the village would be hard.

Boza said they were delighted to see smiles on the pupils’ faces.

Buffalo City Care Givers founder Yolanda Mtsaka said: “We help whenever we can.

“I couldn’t miss being part of this initiative and seeing smiles on the children’s faces is overwhelming.”

Nkula said they tried to avoid cases of pupils teasing each other when a child has her period and the initiative would make their jobs easier.

Most of the pupils come from poor households that rely on social grants