By Lylie Happiness
Oshakati, Nov. 16 – Access to affordable sanitary products is a right, not a privilege.
Many girls in Namibia are forced to use unhygienic materials to manage their monthly cycle due to poverty, leading to some being absent from school.
MTC- Kilimanjaro Boxing Club donated three boxes of sanitary pads to Ahiokoto Primary School in the Okahao circuit on Tuesday.
This is part of the club’s annual charity initiative to give back to the community and help keep a girl child in school. The donation will benefit 21 pupils from Grades 4-7.
The principal of Ahiokoto primary school Nestor Haipinge said: “This is really a helping hand to our pupils as they are from poor backgrounds and it is a good thing to distribute sanitary pads or other items that one can donate to school children.
“We are really thankful to MTC-Kilimanjaro Boxing Academy for doing this to keep our children in school because sometimes some parents cannot afford to buy pads and this might cause a girl-child to stay at home while on periods.
“Therefore we ask good Samaritans to donate pads or anything that our girls need to stay in school,” he said.
Ahiokoto primary school has a total enrolment of 205 pupils from pre-primary to Grade 7, eight teachers and one support staff.