Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to help keep girls in school

10 Jul 2015

Research shows that, in South Africa, most impoverished girls miss up to 50 days of school annually due to menstrual hygiene-related challenges. For the past eight years Procter & Gamble has successfully run the Always Keeping Girls in School initiative, which aims to address absenteeism in school, and provides feminine hygiene, puberty education and motivation for girls to stay in school and pursue their dreams.

Image credit: P&G

P&G is proud to partner the Nelson Mandela Foundation and Caring for Girls to further this work through its Always Keeping Girls in School initiative and its commitment to the Trek4Mandela challenge to summit Mount Kilimanjaro - peaking at 5895 kilometres above sea level. The Trek4Madela aims to raise awareness on the plight of the girl child and to reach 270,000 girl children. P&G will continue giving underprivileged girls packets of Always sanitary pads in line with making every day a Mandela day.

"P&G is one of the organisations that have chosen to partner the foundation to honour the legacy of late-President Nelson Mandela. Everyone in this country has the right to education. Nelson Mandela was an advocate for education," said Khululiwe Mabaso, P&G Communication Associate Director SSA and spokesman for the Always Keeping Girls in School initiative. "As Madiba said: 'Poverty is not an accident. Like slavery and apartheid, it is man made and can be removed by the actions of human beings.' We are those human beings he spoke about."

Well-known personalities

Mabaso will be joining 34 other climbers to raise funds for the girls. Well-known personalities Penny Lebyane, Jack Devnarain, Mo G, Leanne Manas, joined by the Nelson Mandela Foundation CEO Sello Hatang, will all represent P&G as they summit Kilimanjaro.

Mabaso said: "P&G and the Always brand's intention are to play a role in empowering young women, particularly those in the critical school-going years and we are excited to challenge ourselves by climbing the highest mountain in Africa for education."

For every step that each P&G-sponsored climber takes, P&G will donate one packet of Always - it estimated that Kilimanjaro is 19,000 feet.

"We are hoping that if all six of our climbers finish we will donate more than 100,000 Always sanitary towels. At P&G we believe in doing the right thing, ensuring that girls do not miss school because of their period is the right thing to do. Not having access to sanitary towels is not a valid reason for a girl child to miss school and be denied an education. Young girls have an important role to play in society and we have a duty to nurture them by ensuring they become the best possible human beings they can become. Ensuring the education of our girls plays a key role in this," concluded Mabaso.

Through the Always Keeping Girls in School initiative more than 300,000 girls have already benefitted from the programme.