A school uniform, a schoolbag and a pair of shoes are among the things a learner needs to get through the school day. But for some girls in South Africa, there is another necessity that is not always included in the household budget: sanitary pads.
When a family is struggling to afford food, transport and school uniforms, menstrual products can become an expense that is difficult to meet. A girl may then have to decide whether to attend school while worrying about her uniform leaking or staining, or stay at home until her period has passed. Either way, something as ordinary as menstruation can become a barrier to her education.
It is a reality that Lebogang Terciia Phaswana wants to change. Through the TS Pad a Girl Foundation, which she established in 2025, Phaswana is working in Hammanskraal and Temba to support girls and women, promote menstrual health and protect the dignity of young people who struggle to access basic necessities. “I did not want to simply feel sorry for these girls. I wanted to be part of the solution,” she says.
Phaswana, a qualified early childhood development teacher, understands the importance of supporting young people as they grow and develop confidence. Her decision to establish the foundation was driven by concern for girls who cannot afford sanitary pads and the challenges they face in managing their periods.
The problem is larger than the cost of a packet of pads. A 2024 UNICEF situation analysis found that 26% of female learners surveyed in South Africa reported missing school because of their periods. Among girls who had insufficient menstrual hygiene products in the previous three months, 46% reported missing school for this reason.
The figures reveal how a basic necessity can influence a learner's ability to participate in education. While the cost of school uniforms, transport and learning materials is widely recognised as a barrier for poorer households, menstrual health is another part of the picture. For girls without reliable access to sanitary products, attending school can come with a level of worry that other learners do not have to consider.
Some girls are forced to improvise when they cannot access pads. Others stay home because they fear being embarrassed in front of their classmates. Even when they attend school, the worry about managing their periods can make it difficult to concentrate on lessons. Missed classes can affect schoolwork, while repeated experiences of embarrassment can undermine confidence.
For Phaswana, however, providing sanitary pads is only part of the response. Menstruation is still surrounded by stigma, leaving some girls without accurate information about their bodies or a safe space to ask questions. Fear of being laughed at can make it difficult for them to speak about what they need. Addressing period poverty, therefore, also means changing the environment in which girls experience menstruation.
Community-based menstrual health initiatives aim to ensure that girls have access to essential products and information.
“We need to ask girls how they are feeling, listen to their experiences and create environments where they can speak without fear of being judged,” she explains.
That emphasis on listening reflects a wider understanding of empowerment. For girls growing up amid poverty and limited opportunities, support must extend beyond meeting immediate needs. It must also help them recognise that their circumstances do not determine their worth or the future they can pursue. “To me, empowerment means helping a girl understand that she matters, that her voice deserves to be heard and that her dreams are valid,” Phaswana says.
Through the foundation, she hopes to help more girls attend school consistently, participate confidently in their communities and pursue their ambitions. But the needs are considerable, and the resources available to community organisations are not always enough. Funding, transport, sanitary products, and toiletries are essential to reaching more learners, while lasting partnerships are needed to sustain the work beyond individual donations or campaigns.
The foundation is working to extend its reach through a partnership with Jacaranda FM and Morning Angels for a six-month school tour campaign in Hammanskraal. The initiative will visit 10 selected schools, five primary and five high schools, to provide sanitary pads and toiletries, along with menstrual health awareness activities. The foundation has received a letter of authority from the Department of Education for the campaign.
It has also received sponsorship support from Aquelle and been nominated for the Sakha Awards 2026 in the category of Most Outstanding Organisation. For an organisation established only in 2025, these milestones offer encouragement. They may also help bring greater attention to the challenges the foundation is trying to address. But recognition alone cannot guarantee that every girl who needs menstrual products will have access to them.
This is where the story extends beyond Phaswana and her organisation. Community initiatives can respond directly to needs within the areas they serve, but they cannot be expected to carry the responsibility for menstrual health support on their own. The government has a role in ensuring that vulnerable learners can access essential products and reliable information. Schools must provide environments where menstruation can be discussed without ridicule, while businesses and private-sector partners can help through funding, donations and sustainable partnerships.
There is also the wider question of why so many families struggle to afford necessities in the first place. Providing sanitary pads can offer immediate relief, but lasting change requires action on the poverty that makes basic products inaccessible. Investment in education, youth development and opportunities for young women to achieve financial independence is part of that longer-term response.
The vision is straightforward: a future in which no girl has to miss school or feel ashamed because her family cannot afford sanitary pads. Through the TS Pad a Girl Foundation, and many other similar NGOs, communities are working towards that future, one school and one community at a time.
But no community organisation, however committed, can solve period poverty alone. Behind every discussion of attendance figures and access to sanitary products lies a question of what society considers a basic requirement for a girl to learn with dignity.
A packet of sanitary pads should not determine whether a learner walks into a classroom or stays at home. Yet for some girls, the cost of that basic necessity remains a barrier. Changing this reality will require more than individual acts of generosity. It will require a sustained commitment to ensuring that a girl's education, confidence and future are not limited by something as natural as her period.