SARS staff donate sanitary items

Girls at E W Pearce Junior Secondary School in Mthatha were gifted with sanitary products, thanks to the generosity of SARS officials.

SARS Nehawu employment equity national co-ordinator Thembisa Mtshingila, Mthatha branch manager Xoliswa Sikuza and Port Elizabeth branch manager Wandisa Madyibi said employees, both men and women, had clubbed together to buy 450 packs of sanitary towels, 320 face clothes and 330 bars of soap for the pupils.

The school was adopted by SARS in 2015.

“We encourage our branches to adopt schools and assist needy pupils to ensure that they get the best education they can get and also assist them in their psychological development,” said Mtshingila.

Sikuza said many girls’ parents could not afford to buy them sanitary towels.

This resulted in many pupils staying away from school when they had their periods.

“So this is a little effort to assist,” said Sikuza.

Female SARS staff members also motivated the pupils, sharing their personal stories of growing up in poverty and orphaned from a young age.

“Where you come from does not determine your destination or who you will be in the future, but it is your perseverance, patience, commitment, and dreams that take you where you want to be,” said Madyibi.

School teacher Nothemba Makalima said the donation was a perfect example of the African proverb that it takes a village to raise a child.

“One of the major problems faced by the school is that the pupils come from families and communities faced with poverty. Some go to bed with empty stomachs and go to school with empty stomachs, and only depend on the school feeding scheme, ” said Makalima.

“Growing up in poverty is one of the greatest threats to healthy childhood development.”

One of the major problems faced by the school is that the pupils come from families faced with poverty