As the world prepares to commemorate Menstrual Hygiene Day on 28 May 2019 – also International Day of Action for Women's Health – a group of influential South African women, led by Professor Thuli Madonsela, is hard at work preparing to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. They will be trekking in aid of raising funds for sanitary wear and education for young girls in the country.

Sponsored by LexisNexis South Africa and scheduled to summit on Women’s Day, 9 August, the Thuli Madonsela Women’s Day Executive Climb is the second of two summit groups in this year’s annual Trek4Mandela initiative, the first reaching the top on Madiba’s birthday, 18 July.

Trek4Mandela aims to raise enough funds for the Caring4Girls menstrual hygiene and education programme to reach one million disadvantaged girls in 2019 and two million by 2020. Between inception in 2012 and the previous climb in 2018, Imbumba Foundation and Caring4Girls raised funds for more than 11 million pads through corporate social investment, climbers and in-kind donations, distributing these to more than 750 000 girls.

LexisNexis CEO, Billy Last, said the legal tech company was attracted by this worthy cause as well as its relationship with Professor Thuli Madonsela.

“When Professor Madonsela invited LexisNexis to be part of the executive climb in August and to support the Caring4Girls initiative, it was a no-brainer for us. We are excited to work with Professor Madonsela, as well as Imbumba Foundation and Caring4Girls CEO, Richard Mabaso, and to make a difference in bringing sanitary protection to hundreds of thousands of young, disadvantaged girls. We’re also excited to have two of our own dynamic women joining Professor Madonsela’s expedition in August and doing their own fundraising for this commendable initiative.”

In 2016, there were an estimated 2.6 million girls aged 9 to 20 in South Africa. According to research released by Stellenbosch University’s Law Clinic in 2018, 30% of South African girl learners miss school when menstruating because they have limited access to or simply cannot afford adequate menstruation products A UNESCO report estimates that one in ten girls in Sub-Saharan Africa misses school during their menstrual cycle. Still other studies show that the majority of girls in Africa miss up to 50 days of schooling each year because they don’t have access to this basic need.

Whatever the figures, it is a situation Caring4Girls hopes to change. Feminist writer and researcher Jen Thorpe last year explored the cost of having a period in South Africa and estimated that the amount the average woman will spend on sanitary products in her life could be between R15k and R39k. 

This is why various organisations were calling for an end to taxes on sanitary and other feminine hygiene products – a step eventually taken by the South African government when Value Added Tax (VAT) was scrapped on sanitary pads in South Africa from 1 April 2019. Previously only 19 basic food items were exempt from VAT.

Poor‚ vulnerable and marginalised women and girls often cannot afford essential hygiene products and are forced to turn to alternative options that are mostly unhygienic and pose serious health risks such as UTI’s, yeast infections, bad odour, toxic shock syndrome and fertility issues.

These issues are not unique to South Africa, as schoolgirls and women across the globe are forced to resort to using unsanitary materials and products to manage their monthly flow. In West and East Africa, young girls have been taught by their female elders to use material including newspapers, toilet paper reinforced with sellotape, cow dung patties, cow dung powder, raw lint cotton, goatskin skirts, rags, leaves and corn cobs. 

A growing number of women around the world are choosing to embrace more natural and reusable sanitary hygiene products, such as washable pads, menstrual cups and reusable tampon applicators amongst others. However, these more environmentally-friendly options are generally a choice made by more privileged women, in stark contrast to disadvantaged girls and young women who do not have even the basics in place.

LexisNexis Chief Operating Officer, Stephen Okelo-Odongo, said for young girls in impoverished communities, every day is an uphill battle. “There is a lack of understanding, empathy and support for young women going through puberty in school environments that are not equipped to provide adequately for their dignity,” he said, calling on corporates and individuals to dig deep and support this worthy initiative through Trek4Mandela and the Thuli Madonsela Women’s Day Executive Climb.

Individuals can support the climbers by sending an SMS with GIRLCHILD to 42513 to make a pledge of R30. To specifically support the fundraising efforts of the LexisNexis climbers, SMS ‘MARI’ to 42513 for Executive Manager of Strategic Alliances and Partnerships, Mari van Wyk, or SMS “LEEANNKING” for National Deployment Manager, Lee-Ann King. There is also a fundraising page set up by Lee-Ann King to boost efforts: https://www.givengain.com/ap/lee-ann-king-raising-funds-for-imbumba-foundation/

For more information visit www.trek4mandela.com and www.lexisnexis.co.za