Nelson Mandela Foundation

The Caring4Girls programme driven by the Imbumba Foundation tackles the plight of impoverished girls who often miss school during their menstrual cycles due to the lack of sanitary pads.

The aim of the Caring4Girls programme, which is a Mandela Day project, is to ensure access to much-needed sanitary towels so girls may stay in school, and therefore ensure the development and growth of young South African women with dignity.

The Imbumba Foundation has worked over many years to bring about social change in South Africa by supporting poor and vulnerable rural communities through empowerment and mentorship, in order to create better opportunities.

The Imbumba Foundation cites research that has revealed that most impoverished girls miss up to 50 days of school annually due to menstrual hygiene-related challenges.  Some of the girls end up using unhygienic materials such as cloths, newspapers, grass and plastics as alternatives.

Since 2012, the foundation's work has touched the lives of over 50 000 girls in the South African provinces of KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Gauteng, and 300 000 packets of sanitary towels have been distributed to girl children from rural and impoverished schools.

Nelson Mandela said: “People, not only in our country, but around the world, were inspired to believe that through common human effort, injustice can be overcome and that together a better life for all can be achieved.” 

The Caring4Girls programme is concerned with real needs, making real connections and telling real stories that have been and are the reality of many. 

The programme is supported by people who are a combination of visionaries and realists – who are committed to change but concerned with the practical implementation, impact and sustainability of the shared vision to realise positive change and the future of our youth.

Madiba’s hope, through the Mandela Day campaign, was to stimulate action to inspire change and in so doing spread the word and inform the movement to make every day a Mandela Day.

Visit the Imbumba Foundation's website, www.imbumbafoundation.org, for more information.