Vuma’s Sanitary Pad Drive Gives Girls Across Tshwane Carefree Days and Uninterrupted Learning
According to the Ministry of Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities, approximately 7 million South African girls do not have access to, or cannot afford to buy sanitary products. Because of this, young women from underserved communities often skip school and miss educational opportunities. To help reverse these shocking statistics, Vuma, South Africa’s leading Fibre to the Home (FTTH) provider, has partnered with several schools in Tshwane to give schoolgirls free sanitary pads.
Evelyn Mondlana, a social auxiliary worker at Nesi and the main reseller for Vuma in Tshwane, who has partnered with Vuma on this initiative, says, “Girls can be subjected to stigma or miss school due to difficulty managing their menstrual hygiene. As a society, we must show them that a period is nothing to be ashamed of. Access to menstrual health products is a human right and this partnership with Vuma is just one way in which we can ensure that girls go to school with self-confidence and dignity.”
The drive began during Women’s Month and has seen Vuma deliver more than 1500 sanitary pads to several schools in the Tshwane area.
Taylor Kwong, CSI Manager at Vuma says, “Part of our core values includes the idea that no one gets left behind on our journey towards a better, connected future for all South Africans. Whenever I speak to our teams on the ground, the thing they always say is that young girls in various communities need sanitary pads. So, for us, part of not leaving people behind means helping provide pads to as many young girls as we can.”
Over the coming months, Vuma plans to deliver thousands more pads to several more schools in the community starting with Rhulani Secondary School before the end of the school year.
Annikie Baloyi, Principal at Rhulani Secondary School says, “For many girls, access to sanitary products can be the difference between passing and failing school. Not having the money to buy pads is not these girls’ fault and should never be something that holds them back in life. That is why we are so happy to be able to collaborate with Vuma to make sure that our learners can attend classes with dignity.”
Vuma’s Tshwane Sanitary School drive will also donate pads to Soshanguve East Secondary School and other schools in the community from the 9th of December.
Mondlana says, “We did not want this to be one of those events where a big corporate does a once-off and we never see them again. So, the plan is to roll out more donations over next year.”
Kwong concludes, “As citizens of this country, we are committed to empowering ordinary people to be extraordinary. We want to help the nation build inclusive, connected lives, communities, and societies and to do that, we must lead by example. This drive is just one way in which we are trying to do that.”