Thalia January

The South African Journal of Child Health 2022 reported 7 million girls being absent from school each month due to a lack of sanitary pads. This results in them missing 25% of their learning during the school year.

Meet Thalia January, a grade 8 economic management sciences and electrical technology teacher at Belville Technical High School. She’s the youngest of four children, raised by both parents – something that is becoming rare in South Africa. This passionate and dedicated teacher goes above and beyond her call of duty, even using her own money, to make sure her students never have to suffer the indignity of not being able to afford sanitary pads.

Even though the stats also include communities from where Thalia is from, she admits that things weren’t as bad for her. But she does remember her first period as quite a shock when it happened to her at the age of 9. She remembers that Sunday, thinking she was dying. Then it was time for the "mom and daughter" talk. Dealing with her students, she sees how fortunate she had been when some of the children in her class started asking if she had spare sanitary towels they could use. Even though she doesn’t have children of her own, she sees all the girls she teaches as hers. So, she decided to bring some from home just so the girls always have a backup plan.

When asked about the term, "period poverty", she responds by saying, "During their cycle, they are poor as they don’t have, sometimes only enough for one day. I felt comfortable with changing mine about 4 times a day because of hygiene. With some girls, this is not an option, and you can imagine how that must feel… constantly looking around to see who can tell you need a change and knowing you just can’t afford to. Seeing what it does to their self-esteem, confidence and dignity is heart-breaking. It makes you feel poor and inadequate when you can’t afford the most basic things like sanitary towels." Even with obvious health risks, some will use toilet paper because it’s all they have, and any infection means they miss school. Toilet paper is not designed for that, and the girls experience “leakage”, with some getting laughed at and teased.

In 2021, SPAR committed to subsidising the cost of their branded Petals, capping each pack at R6. In its year of inception, the initiative collected over 130 000 packs that were distributed to local charities across South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Swaziland – giving dignity to thousands. In June 2023, the SPAR Petals project in the Western Cape donated 18 480 sanitary pads to young women in need. This means that for a while, the girls are not stressed, and they can focus on their education and sport. Thalia’s thankful that SPAR Western Cape is getting involved in the fight against period poverty.

There are many other women just like Thalia January, women who fight for the dignity of girls, women who want to make sure that each girl never misses a day of schooling, women fighting the fight against period poverty so that young girls do not have to grow up with the mental scars of ridicule from an accidental leakage because they had no access to something as basic as a sanitary towel. To all these women: SIYANIBONA – we see you! This is why the SPAR Petals project works with volunteers and communities to ensure that together we can help as many young women as possible, by restoring their dignity and keeping them in school.