Seabata Mahao
In celebration of Day of the Girl Child Day, the Vodacom Lesotho Foundation delivered 1 000 reusable sanitary towels worth M250 000, to schoolgirls in the Mafeteng and Quthing districts this week.
The donation was done under the giant telecommunications company’s Dignity campaign, an initiative whose objective is to provide girls with reusable, washable, modern, and eco-friendly sanitary towels with a lifespan of up to five years.
The towels are a sustainable resource, which allows girls to wash and reuse them, rather than having to buy disposable sanitary towels every month. In addition, they are inexpensive and environmentally friendly, with a social benefit that stands to greatly mitigate the disadvantages many disempowered girls endure during their process of maturing.
Speaking at the handover ceremony, Vodacom’s Executive Head of Legal, Regulatory and External Affairs, Tšepo Ntaopane stated that, through this campaign, they aim to ensure that girls have access to safe and hygienic-sanitary products, as well as raise awareness around women’s health. He further mentioned that, they look to help girls reclaim the dignity that poverty attempts to deny them.
“We enable girls to make a lasting and positive impact on the communities they live in and society as a whole. We believe that when girls and women have health, education, and opportunity, communities and our world are stronger. This initiative is cross-cutting and ensures the dignity and health of our adolescents while ensuring that we keep them in school,†Ntaopane said.
Ntaopane elaborated that, it is also in line with Vodacom’s mandate to invest and support initiatives that make up the key focus areas. Moreover, Vodacom Lesotho supports and is fully committed to driving sustainable initiatives which can help alleviate some of Lesotho’s most pressing social challenges.
He further explained that, Vodacom Lesotho has achieved this through partnerships with reputable organizations, government, industry leaders, and other technology partners.
Vodacom Lesotho supports this through the focused social investment activities aimed at using Information Communication Technology (ICT) to improve access to education, address community health challenges, combat gender-based violence, and advance economic empowerment.
In Mafeteng, the packages were handed over to girls from Bereng High School, Matsepe High School, Hope High School, Mafeteng High School, St. John’s High School, and Masentle High School, while the Quthing beneficiary schools are Makhaola High School, Hermitage High School, Eagles Peak High School, Qacha’s Nek and Mohlapiso high schools.