VEDANTA DONATES TO CHILILABOMBWE SCHOOLS

VEDANTA Resources Limited, the parent company of Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), has donated an assortment of sanitary products and cleaning detergents to eight schools in Chililabombwe district, in its quest to fight period poverty and enhance the girl child education.

And Chililabombwe Member of Parliament Paul Kabuswe has called for the demystification of the issue of monthly period as it impacts negatively on the confidence and regular school attendance of the girl child.

Speaking during the handover ceremony, Vedanta Resources Limited Director Cooperate Communications Masuzyo Ndhlovu said his firm has a vision to support the girl child through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes.

Mr Ndhlovu intimated that Vedanta Resources Limited has committed US$20 million annually in all KCM areas of operation for CSR programmes, hence the resolve to form a community trust to foster development at community level.

He said the sanitary towels were targeted at young girls who are vulnerable, to ensure the school dropout rates are reduced while the detergents are intended towards promoting good hygiene.

Mr Ndhlovu observed that the tendency by some vulnerable young girls who ask for money from strangers to purchase sanitary pads often exposes them to people that may take advantage of their situation resulting in issues such as teen pregnancies.

He reiterated that donating of sanitary towels and detergents will be sustained as evidenced by the over four thousand sanitary towels that were donated to various schools last December underscoring the firm’s commitment to promote the education of the girl child.

And Mr Kabuswe, who is also Minister of Mines and Mineral Development, used the occasion to donate books to all the schools in the district, a trend he has adopted every term in his quest to further support the free education policy being implemented by the government.

Mr Kabuswe said some families in communities where school girls come from cannot afford to purchase sanitary towels thus the gesture exhibited by Vedanta Resources Limited should be sustained as it aligns well with President Hakainde Hichilema’s resolve to promote the education sector.