Lions Club Hwange empowers the less privileged girl child
THE Lions Club Hwange chapter has initiated a programme to empower the less privileged girl child in Hwange and surrounding areas by embarking on fund-raising initiatives as part of the International Menstrual Hygiene Day festivities held in the coal mining town last week.
The charity organisation, with branches throughout the world, joined hands with the Hwange Social Soccer league which will see taffiliate clubs embarking on a round robin tournament to support the initiative.
As part of the build up to the event which kicked off with a march involving drum majorettes, school children, players and officials from all the social league’s 20 teams, Lions Club had embarked on a publicity campaign within the district sourcing for donations of sanitary pads, cash and in kind meant to assist the vulnerable girl child.
Speaking at the handover ceremony at Lwendulu old ground, the Lions Club Hwange chapter president Barnabas Male said the club has discovered that the issue of menstrual hygiene was a problem among disadvantaged children.
“As Lions Club, we went into the rural areas and made our investigations on menstrual cycle issues and how they affect the girl child and we decided to embark on this campaign to ensure the less privileged girl is assisted. Sadly, we discovered that some of the girls here in Hwange and surrounding areas use cow dungs, tree bucks and some even go the extent of sitting of river sand during their menstrual cycles hence it touched our hearts and we decided to help. Some of these girls would end up missing on schools lessons due to those issues” said Mr Male.
The chairman of the social soccer league, Josiah Nduku, also said as a soccer league they felt they needed to help the girls.
Lions Club Hwange has in the past embarked on a number of projects within the district which include donations towards Badala Old people’s home, national tree planting and clean up campaigns, the less privileged people in Chief Nekatambe area and assistance towards a local Franco Ncube, a double amputee who lost both hands after the xenophobic attacks in South Africa.