Durban — Two brothers have taken it upon themselves to address issues of sanitary pad poverty among young girls by starting a pads drive campaign.
Izah, 13, and Akhani, 12, were motivated to start the drive following a conversation they had with their mother, Latoya Mukansi.
The pair had informed Mukansi that they were mortified to find out that many girls were unable to attend school on some days every month due to the lack of access to sanitary pads.
The brothers were motivated into action and sought donations from their mother to start a pads drive.
Since then, they have made a handover to two schools, with the first being on International Women’s Day, March 8.
Izah said he used his rugby and water polo platform exposure from sports to highlight the societal need.
“We have never missed school for anything and it was surprising that girls had to miss school for something they can’t control. So after our mom told us about the struggles that some girls have to go through every month, we just knew that we needed to help in some way,” he said.
Izah said Covid-19 might had contributed to more families being unable to afford essentials.
“When Covid-19 first started we were not free to move around due to lockdown, so some people could not go to the stores to buy pads. However, that is no longer the issue. Most people lost their jobs during the pandemic, which also meant that they no longer have the money to buy even pads.
“We are grateful to people who understand the emergency of this need. Some people buy the pads themselves and donate them to us so that we can deliver them to the school that we choose. We also use our pocket money,” Izah said.
He said it was important for young boys to understand such needs as they could come up with ways to help.
“This affects our whole society and communities that we come from. When girls cannot go to school because of not having pads, they are missing out on school and their education suffers.
“This also means that if only some boy pupils are being educated that if girls start to fall behind in their work, our future will not be as strong as it could be with only half the students,” said Izah.
Akhani said through the drive girls were given the same opportunities as the boys in their schools.
“Girls deserve the same opportunities as us. I hope that most people can lend a hand. This will give them hope that as a country, we care regardless of gender. I am willing to continue helping in any way we can,” he said.
He said although he had been bullied by other boys in school, giving back to the community was still his commitment.
“Our school has been really supportive even though I was teased for this. We also know that there will always be people that are jealous. We are not doing this for them, but for the girls that really need our help.
“We have been bullied in the past on other stuff, like when we excel in sports, but our parents have taught us how to handle this and we just ignore people who want to be negative.
“I have realised that the schools receiving pads are really grateful and this means a lot to us because we can see that we are making a difference, yet we expected nothing in return,” said Akhani.
Daily News