Nicky Cupido spent two decades working in the banking sector before deciding to quit her job and take time out for self-reflection. It was during this time that she decided she needed to help tackle the period poverty (lack of sanitaryware) issue in South Africa and started the IAMFORHER Foundation.
“This time allowed me to meet and have meaningful conversations with people from many different backgrounds and spaces outside of my previous day-to-day life,” she related. “However, it was a conversation with my husband about the period poverty in South Africa that really triggered a reaction from me. The fact that many women in our country often need to choose between feeding their family or having sanitary towels for the month. I was heartbroken at the fact that there are girls who miss up to 60 days of school a year, because they don’t have sanitary towels. The divide that it creates between girls and boys at primary school level already propelled me into action.”
Cupido’s non-profit organisation IAMFORHER Foundation, founded in 2019, provides menstrual health education to girls and boys and sanitary pads to less fortunate school-going girls across the country. It has already helped more than 15 000 South African girls since its inception.
In 2018 Bathabile Dlamini, former Minister of Women in the Presidency, told a menstrual-health management symposium research showed approximately 7 million schoolgirls in South Africa couldn’t afford sanitary-hygiene products. Eradicating statistics such as this is what drives IAMFORHER, having free access to sanitary towels in a dignified manner.
Cupido explained: “The aim of the foundation is to provide free access to sanitary material, provision of sanitary towels via an automatic dispensing machine, an eco-friendly disposal of used sanitary material and menstruation hygiene and well-being education to indigent adolescent girls (and boys) in informal settlements and rural areas of Southern Africa.”
The Paarlite and former learner of Ebenezer Primary School spoke of her early years: “I was born in Paarl Hospital and grew up spending holidays with my grandparents in Barker Street, Paarl. Even though my parents resided in the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, I feel a special bond with the Boland, playing cricket with my cousins in the street in Wellington [and] eating my grandmother’s wholesome lunches and dinners, which were always so delicious in the beautiful town of Paarl.”
As a woman Cupido is determined to support other women every day of her life, while challenging period poverty statistics at the same time.
Besides devoting her time to IAMFORHER, she also does part-time HR consultations. In fact, all the women involved with the organisation do so on a voluntary basis, also sacrificing their after-hours and weekends for a cause that means so much to them.
“Seeing the impact of the work the IAMFORHER foundation does in real time is one of the most rewarding things ever,” Cupido points out. “Fewer girls skipping school days, not to mention the confidence gained, which is reflected in speaking up in just one educational session. It really makes me feel as if I am fulfilling my purpose. While sometimes heartbreaking, it’s also really inspiring to hear the girls’ stories about how one pack of sanitary towels has made a positive impact on their lives.”
Through all their work Cupido and her IAMFORHER team believe that education lies at the heart of everything. They not only disseminate sanitary pads, but also knowledge.
“When people remain uninformed they tend to make rash statements that can impact a young and vulnerable child,” Cupido says. “Our message, not just to men, but all South Africans and abroad is: educate yourself. Talk to the women in your life, read about it online. There are many resources you can use to become more informed on this very natural bodily function.”
She also encourages people to get in touch with her if they are looking for more information on menstrual health. One can email her at talktonicky@iamforherfoundation.co.za. For more information on becoming more involved and contributing towards IAMFORHER visit www.iamforherfoundation.co.za.
