In communities where poverty forces families to live with the bare necessities, there are girls and boys who are battling to maintain their dignity and self-esteem. The Transnet Teenage Health Programme is turning this situation around. Through awareness, education and mentoring about health and hygiene, the programme is enabling teenagers in our country’s poorest communities to be comfortable in their own skin, have self-confidence, and walk with dignity.
Girl Child Programme
Answering the national call to restore women’s dignity
In 2010, the Presidency announced that young girls should not miss out on getting an education because they don’t have the necessary feminine hygiene products to manage menstruation. This is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, which commit to universal access by girls to education, gender equality and the empowerment of women. Positioning itself as a caring corporate citizen, Transnet’s objective of increasing access to education about good menstrual health and hygiene practices underscores these goals. Transnet’s corporate social investment arm, the Transnet Foundation, has implemented a Teenage Health Programme that provides education, awareness, toiletries and feminine hygiene products to the poorest, mainly rural communities of South Africa.
Boy Child Programme
Giving young boys a sense of pride
In 2015, the Transnet Foundation introduced a ‘boy programme’ focussing on health and hygiene issues pertinent to young men to complement the ‘girl programme’. Focussing on the boy child aims to encourage positive and responsible decision-making amongst boys. The programme focusses on life skills, health matters such as medical male circumcision as well as general health and hygiene to instil a sense of pride and responsibility in our young boys.
The challenges of poverty-stricken rural communities
The Transnet Teenage Health Programme is targeted at poor communities where families get minimal or no income. In these communities, general hygiene, sanitation and proper self-care has moved to the bottom of the priority list and there are often no sanitary amenities or waste management systems. On a financial level, parents, understandably, use the little money they have to buy food instead of toiletries. However, the consequence is that teenage girls stay away from school and other activities when they menstruate because they don’t have access to proper sanitation and feel embarrassed and uncomfortable. Boys are embarrassed due to their inability to maintain good hygiene practices and suffer from poor self-esteem and self-confidence.
Giving our youth a future through education
Through education, awareness and a Dignity Pack that contains basic hygiene products, the Transnet Teenage Health Programme aims to:
- Minimise the school dropout rates for girls and boys
- Enable and empower them to participate fully in social and academic activities
- Teach them to maintain basic good health and hygiene practices • Improve young girls’ and boys’ quality of life
The programme helps teenagers feel comfortable in their own skin.
A ray of hope for parents
The programme also provides much-needed relief for the financial pressure on parents in poor communities to buy sanitary products and toiletries. Where families live with the bare minimum, these products are considered an unattainable luxury.
How the Transnet Teenage Health Programme works
The programme involves various groups of people in the community, including the parents, teachers, school governing bodies and government officials. It mainly targets children between the ages of 13 and 19.
Phase 1: One-day interactive workshop
The Transnet Foundation facilitator hosts an interactive workshop session where they talk to programme beneficiaries about general topics, like recognising their beauty and being proud of who they are, and specific topics about how their body changes, menstruation, teenage pregnancy, good hygiene practices and self-esteem. The children are provided with a dignity pack which includes a booklet with the information discussed during the workshop, soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes, roll-on deodorant, hand sanitiser and for the girls, a menstrual cup. Everything is neatly packed in a Transnet backpack that’s easy to carry and that can be used as a school bag.
Phase 2: Feedback and follow-up sessions in small groups
Over a period of nine months, the children get the opportunity to talk about their experience at small group gatherings hosted by the Transnet Foundation through a process of facilitation. Transnet’s continues to provide toiletries to children at each session. These sessions also involve children who have been through the programme before, providing the opportunity of peer learning. Taking into account the fact that the children probably won’t be able to buy the general hygiene products again, they are provided with indigenous knowledge about what they can use as alternatives to store-bought products, such as lemon and aloe.
The menstrual cup – a green, sustainable product provided as an alternate to traditional sanitary products
The Mina menstrual cup is a revolutionary alternative to sanitary pads and tampons that is environmentally- and user- friendly. Made from 100% medical grade silicone, it doesn’t have the health risks associated with using pads and tampons, such as infections and toxic shock syndrome, and has various other benefits:
- It’s easy to clean, either with water or by wiping it with a cloth.
- It’s biocompatible.
- It’s non-porous and non-permeable.
- It’s comfortable and can be used in an active lifestyle.
- It’s beneficial to waste management because there is nothing to throw away, as blood naturally decomposes in water.
- If used with care, it can last up to 10 years.
A first in Africa: Transnet entered into a special agreement with a supplier for the design of a smaller menstrual cup for teenagers based on initial feedback from the girls in the programme.
Facts and figures
- The Transnet Teenage Health Programme was launched in 2012 – to date the programme has been implemented in eight provinces
- By 31 March 2016, 30 600 girls had benefited from the programme
- Transnet implemented a Boy Child Programme in 2015 to complement the work done with the girls
- The Transnet Teenage Health Programme is implemented in Kwa-Zulu Natal, Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, Northern Cape and Free State in collaboration with government and civil society
- The programme is strategically aligned to the Integrated School Health Programme, Inclusive Education Programmes, and Programmes of the Department of Social Development targeting children and youth at risk amongst others.
