Sanitary pads project for 6 000 girls
THE lives of more than 6 000 girls across the province will be improved, thanks to the Community Chest project that will provide 6 000 sanitary pads every three months to girls at 12 schools.
With Women’s Day being celebrated on Sunday, the project will be launched on Tuesday at Rosendal High in Delft and 11 other schools over the next 12 months.
Community Chest South Africa chief executive Lorenzo Davids said they had partnered with Johnson &Johnson to provide the pads.
Community Chest also partnered with Lifeline/Childline to identify the schools where the supply of pads was a problem. “The questions in the survey identify these schools and included how many girls missed school days during their menstruation period,” said Davids.
He added that when it came to communities living in poverty, the transition from childhood to adulthood was not often celebrated and girls were often poorly educated about their menstrual cycles.
Community Chest regional head of strategy and sustainability Jo Pereira said research found that some were using newspapers or toilet paper as alternatives.
“There will be workshops to hear the girls’ stories, access to additional health and educational resources, and access to educational and health service providers, with updated research on this crucial issue,” said Pereira.
THE South African Blind Women in Action ( SABWA) organisation celebrated Women’s Month yesterday at the Cape Town Society for the Blind by empowering women with disabilities.
Ahead of Women’s Day on Sunday, SABWA secretary Elizabeth Maphike said despite not having a venue for members, the organisation was dedicated to empowering women through various types of workshops.
Besides having monthly workshops at the Cape Town Society for the Blind in Salt River, the women would meet in their various communities.
She said no matter where they have their workshops, members such as 80-year-old Maria Goliath, from Heideveld, never missed a meeting.
The organisation also receives support from sighted elderly women in the surrounding community, who supply knitting items and baked goods.
“Through one of our cancerawareness programmes, one of the women who attended discovered she had a lump in her breast. Today, she is a breast cancer survivor,” said Maphike.
During yesterday’s celebra- tion, mayor Patricia de Lille donated R10 000 worth of knitting items and groceries to the organisation.
De Lille said the organisation’s women reminded her of the 20 000 women who marched to the Union Buildings to petition against the divisive pass laws on August 9, 1956.
“Despite the physical challenges you face every day, you make a daily decision not to be victims of your circumstances,” she said.
While SABWA mainly has visually impaired members, it is focused on empowering all women with disabilities.
Debbie Otto, the NGO’s spokesperson, said the groceries donated by the mayor would especially help their members, who often don’t have anything nourishing to eat.
“When you are blind and live alone, making yourself something to eat is a challenge,” she said.
Otto, who is also visually impaired, said women using their canes in public were also often the target of robbers in township areas.
“I live in Heideveld and it’s only when I am at the Cape Town Society for the Blind where I feel safe enough to use my cane.”
SABWA member Nomfundo Jacobs said she also felt vulnerable to robbers in Crossroads and seldom used her cane when walking in the area.
But because many of the taxi drivers know of their disabilities, Otto and Jacobs said they don’t have trouble using public transport in their areas.
The women are also embarking on empowering themselves further through studying an Early Childhood Development course through Epilepsy SA.
“No matter what your circumstances, you need to believe in yourself and what you can achieve,” said Jacobs.