THE NEED
Access to Feminine Health Education and Menstrual Supplies for Girls
It is an astonishing fact that a typical young woman will spend an average of 60 days a year managing her menstrual cycle. Although this is a natural thing, many young women in South Africa, especially those from disadvantaged communities, do not have regular access to sanitary feminine hygiene products,
Sadly, many young people in South Africa are dependent on guardians or even each other, in the wake of the devastating AIDS pandemic. The result is they lack adequate counsel or the specific education, which they need to feel confident with their changing bodies.
The effect of these two factors means that girls and young women in school face great challenges – many missing out on days every month due to lack of feminine supplies. Imagine trying to keep up if you are missing up to 60 days of school every year!
Its tragic that so much promise is being lost when young women are not able to reach their full potential – held back by such a simple challenge.
People like you can make a difference for girls like these. Click here to donate.
Early Childhood Education
The evidence is clear that when children lack an opportunity to develop their cognitive skills, negative social and economic outcomes result. The best way to prevent this tragic outcome is with investments in early childhood education, particularly targeted toward disadvantaged children and their families.
The most effective way to overcome the deadly cycle of poverty is to invest in a youn
g child’s education. This is especially true in South Africa, where millions of children become trapped in a cesspool of substandard education, lack of basic services, limited health care, and severe malnutrition. Children need a chance to breakout out of this despair. Your partnership with Side by Side can give them just that.
Healthy Nutrition
Hungry children cannot learn, cannot think clearly, cannot even imagine a hopeful future. Chronic hunger can prevent students from making the most of a formal education, no matter how hard they try to ignore its effects. The sad truth is that hunger can have physical and psychological effects on young children, which makes learning substantially more difficult. You can help change that. Your donation can give them a chance to live a life full of hope and promise.
That piece of bread or bowl of soup we take for granted just might be a South African child’s only meal of the day. Will you be a Side by Side Partner, and help give even one child an opportunity to learn and grow into the man and woman God intends?
