AHF empowers girls with sanitary towels
MBABANE – What was meant to be an embarrassing moment for a female pupil ended up being a blessing, as she received sanitary pads from the Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF).
This initiative stems from a viral video that did the rounds on social media, showing a female pupil stealing a pad inside a pack at Easy Buy Supermarket.
AHF took this great initiative to donate sanitary pads to the female pupil and other female pupils who might also have a challenge getting pads due to a lack of funds.
Poverty is a huge issue in the country, causing some female black children to use a toilet paper and newspapers as a means to an end.
Most girls cannot afford pads, causing them to be bullied by boys when they have their period at school, which may cause them to miss school during the menstrual cycle.
Obvious
“When we saw this video, we knew that we needed to encourage this young lady. To me, it was very obvious that she had an emergency, as she did not steal the whole package; she just took one. Somebody, somewhere in the supermarket should have realised the sensitivity of the matter and acted accordingly. It is really sad that nobody thought about how taking the video might affect the child.” said AHF country Programme Manager, Dr Nkululeko Dube.
“It is for that reason we took this stand to try to spread the word that something needed to be done with regard to the provision of affordable sanitary towels in schools. It is the responsibility of the government to make sure that this commodity is available to all. Pads should be easily accessible, just like condoms are easily accessible in public toilets.”
“No young girl should lose dignity because she can not afford proper sanitary towels; we are trying to support those efforts.” said Dube
“At the school, we do offer ‘emergency help’ to the female child in need of the pad at school. I suspect that this learner is new to the school and she is not familiar with the programme in place,’’ said the head teacher of the school.
Dube later stated that, as AHF, they pledged to support the school in providing sanitary pads to those who are most vulnerable and may be in serious need from now until the end of the year.
Sive Mawelela, Mr Eswatini, and a peer educator working with the organisation said, “As someone who is passionate about young people, today’s donation made me feel complete.
‘‘Lack of access to pads can negatively impact the student. So this will help the child realise that she is not alone; there are people who care.”
This initiative by AHF is highly commended and appreciated.
Every girl child should be protected. No child should miss school just because there are no pads. Government should work with schools and make pads easily accessible; let them not be just an ‘emergency pad’ but a supply throughout the cycle for that month.