As part of International Menstrual Hygiene Day on May 28, On Eagles Wings Multi-purpose Centre, in collaboration with SPAR Eastern Cape and Woodlands Dairy, hosted an educational hygiene workshop for 100 young girls at Humansdorp Senior Secondary School.
As previously reported by the Kouga Express, Jeffreys Bay-based non-profit organisation, On Eagles Wings’ multi-purpose centre, was established 14 years ago by Pastor Mercy Cwayi to offer counselling services and shelter services to victims of crimes such as domestic violence, abuse and rape.
In addition, the organisation also has regular sanitary towel distribution drives and provides various workshops to young girls to educate them about the importance of hygiene, menstruation, and sexually transmitted infections.
According to Cwayi, while embarking on various workshops throughout Patensie, Jeffreys Bay, Humansdorp, Hankey, Loerie, Thornhill, Joubertina and Kareedouw, they discovered that many young girls lacked knowledge about menstruation.
“Teenagers and adolescents are not prepared for their menstrual cycle, and they are not informed about menstrual hygiene,” said Cwayi.
As part of the organisation’s monthly sanitary towel distribution, they wanted to provide a girls’ empowerment workshop and educate young girls aged between 15 and 19 at Humansdorp Senior Secondary School about menstrual hygiene and the menstrual cycle in commemoration of Menstrual Hygiene Day.
Cwayi said during the workshop, the young girls at the school were provided with vital information about menstruation, as well as family planning, from various speakers at the event.
In addition, she said that Tiffany Maclean, who was crowned as International Junior Miss South Africa 2021, also gave a motivational speech to the young girls which brought great excitement among the learners since Maclean was a former learner at Humansdorp Senior Secondary School.
“We hope to have similar events on International Menstrual Hygiene Day each year, where we can gather many girls at a bigger venue which will allow us to reach more girls in the community,” said Cwayi.
“We hope that these events will encourage the girls to practise good menstrual hygiene which they can share with their friends and siblings.”
During the event, each girl was given a pack of sanitary towels, soap, wash cloth, face mask and a bottle of hand sanitiser.
“As an organisation, we are committed to building programmes that increase confidence, knowledge and skills and improve access to materials for adolescent girls and women.
“Creating a culture that welcomes discussion and makes adequate education for women and girls is of equal importance,” said Cwayi.
Those who contributed to the success of the event included Carmelia Miles from Woodlands Dairy, the Department of Health, Kruisfontein Clinic, SPAR Humansdorp, SPAR Eastern Cape, Humansdorp Senior Secondary School, On Eagles Wings Multi-purpose Centre, 7de Laan Soup Kitchen and Masikhathalelaneni.
Cwayi said once the COVID-19 pandemic had ended, she hoped to host a camp for girls and boys to empower them with information about menstruation, sexual reproduction, body awareness and family planning, so that they can make informed decisions.
