Off to climb Kilimanjaro for the girls
PE woman joins #Trek4Mandela to raise funds to buy feminine products for impoverished pupils
WATCHING some of her classmates start their periods without access to sanitary towels was one of the reasons Port Elizabeth woman Andisa Liba decided she wanted to take part in the annual #Trek4Mandela – a trek up Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for girls like her former school friends.
Liba is one of 30 South Africans who will summit the mountain on former president Nelson Mandela’s birthday on July 18.
#Trek4Mandela, run by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, aims to keep young girls in school by raising money for sanitary towels.
Studies have shown that girls from impoverished communities miss up to 50 days of school a year simply because they do not have feminine hygiene products.
“Nature baby” Liba said climbing Kilimanjaro was something she had always wanted to do.
“I have known for many years that I would do it, but I would do it for special reasons. Making an impact in the lives of girls in my hometown is as good a reason as it will get.
“I’m an avid believer in the value of education,” she said.
The 34-year-old mother of two will be adopting a school in the Bay for which she hopes to raise enough funds to purchase sanitary towels for the girls for the whole year.
Having raised just under R60 000 from friends in the business sector so far, Liba is confident she will be able to reach her goal of R85 000.
“I’m starting with Kama Primary in New Brighton. This is the first school I went to. Then I'd like to move over to Molefe, also in New Brighton.
“I spent a short while there but I remember vividly how awful it was for some of the girls who started their periods early and didn’t have the necessary sanitary towels.”
Liba said she had witnessed girls using socks as sanitary towels.
She said she hoped not only to donate sanitary towels to children around the Bay but also to teach teenagers to do away with thinking that periods are taboo.
“I want to talk to young girls in the context of hygiene and biology outside of a prescription of a textbook.
“We need to start having those healthy conversations so girls are not ostracised for being on their period and this can only be accomplished through dialogue and education,” Liba said. Juggling motherhood, being a regional HR manager, running her own hiking club and working as a brand ambassador for the Caring for Girls initiative, which has been endorsed by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Liba is still making time for her intense exercise programme.
“We climb the Drakensberg mountains every two months over weekends to get our bodies used to the different altitude, despite Kilimanjaro being 5 895m above sea level and Drakensberg 2 900m.
“In between Drakensberg climbs, we have a rigorous training programme to gain mileage on legs and a stairs programme to increase our heart rates.
“I go on hikes all the time and I carry additional weights to gain range on my shoulders because on our hike we will be carrying our necessities.”
In addition to being physically ready, she said she was also mentally ready for the climb.
Liba said she was overwhelmed by the love and support she had received from Bay residents ahead of the climb.
The climbers will leave South Africa on July 10 and hopefully summit on the 18th and return to South Africa on the 21st.