03 Mar 2021

Tonota Tribal Administration staff has donated four boxes of sanitary towels worth over P4 500 to Shashe River Senior Secondary School and Lethabile Junior Secondary School in Tonota. 

Speaking during the donation in Tonota, tribal secretary, Mr Tothodzani Malinga said the objective was to give teenage girls and young women dignity and keep them in school. 

He explained that the donation of the over 241 sanitary pads was triggered by some researches done by agencies like UNICEF, UNESCO which showed that most of the underprivileged girls missed school for at least four days each month due to menstruation.

He said the reason being that they do not have sanitary pads therefore, avoiding embarrassment at school. 

He said one of the Department of Tribal Administration goals to promote nation-building, preservation of culture, and dispensation of justice for social harmony. 

“By nation-building we refer to a situation whereby we all live in social harmony, having the compassionate spirit, not discriminating fellow citizens, thus sharing the little we have.

Again, we know that it is not our culture that a neighbour should sleep hungry while having relatives and neighbours,” he added. 

Mr Malinga explained that the donation drove the department’s vision of promoting sustainable livelihoods by empowering the communities and promoting the spirit of self-reliance and resilience with Batho Pele (People-centred) as one of the values. 

He said in coming up with the project (donation), the Tonota Tribal Administration staff was encouraged by the famous words from the great Philosopher, Winston Churchill, who once said “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

“It is against this background that we saw it fit that the Department of Tribal Administration play a role in ensuring that the little that we acquired be donated to a girl-child as tomorrow’s the mother of the nation because one of the pivotal roles of Bogosi in community development is child welfare,” disclosed Mr Malinga. 

Kgosi Bokamoso Radipitse of Tonota said the donation showed that the department’s mandate was not only to dispense justice for social harmony but also for community development and building. 

Kgosi Radipitse said the donation would go a long way in changing the lives of the girl-child in the two schools. 

He said the donation came at a time when there were reports of a serious shortage of sanitary pads in some schools in Tonota.

Tonota School Head, Mr Mpaladzi Majingo and Lethabile JSS Guidance and Counselling Teacher, Ms Segametse Motsumi commended the staff for the donation. Mr Majingo said Shashe River Senior Secondary School had more than 700 girls hence the donation was a relief.

Ms Motsumi said Lethabile JSS had 493 girls and that most of them had not yet started their menstrual cycle. She thus handed over half of the pads to Shashe River senior secondary school. Ends