Sanitary Towels For Free

Growing up in rural areas can be difficult for many young girls. Most young girls find themselves surrounded by poverty, hardship and a lack of positive role models, causing them to end up sexually active at an early stage, falling pregnant and end up using drugs and alcohol to deal with their circumstances.

Growing up in rural Hammanskraal myself, I believe that with the right people caring and reaching out to young girls to motivate, encourage and mentor we can inspire them to believe in their dreams and to pursue their full potential. For many of us, buying sanitary pads is as easy as buying bread and milk. But this is not the case for millions of girls and women in South Africa. They are at a permanent disadvantage as they are forced to stay at home as they are unable to afford this basic necessity. Girls use unhygienic alternatives to sanitary pads, such as newspaper or even sand and leaves, or sitting on cow patties. Doing this puts them at a huge risk of infection. And, according to Barnes, of nine million girls aged between 13 and 19 years in South Africa, "80% of those were missing a week of school every month... That's just time you can't make up and it's affecting their education."