While many expect to be showered with gifts on their birthdays, Aphelele Sidumo (28) of Southernwood in Mthatha, is paying it forward by showering those in need with gifts to celebrate her birthday.
Last year, Sidumo started an initiative of collecting sanitary pads for girls in school which saw her collect 273 packs of sanitary products.
These were later donated to Cezu Junior Secondary School and Dalukhanyo Senior Secondary School, which are both located in Viedgesville outside Mthatha.
This year she is planning to do even better by helping more schoolgirls in need with 1 023 packs of sanitary products already donated to her by Thursday last week.
Sidumo plans to collect the sanitary pads for the entirety of this month, with her birthday being May 7.
She says that personal experience is the best teacher as the idea was born out of her own experiences of struggling to get sanitary pads as a schoolgirl.
“In 2012, I was struggling to get sanitary pads and that whole experience, and the embarrassment I went through, really inspired me to come up with the idea of collecting sanitary pads for schoolgirls in need to spare them the unpleasant experience I went through,” said Sidumo.
She further said that the initiative is gaining momentum since its inception last year, which has prompted her to establish the Lumiyo Foundation as a vehicle for her charitable initiative.
Sidumo self-funded the initial sanitary pads collection drive, through a stipend she received from an organisation she volunteers at, before friends and private individuals contributed towards her cause.
Private businesses and prominent individuals, such as medical doctors and attorneys, have made generous contributions towards her sanitary pad collection drive this year.
Sidumo has called on schools in need of sanitary pads to contact her to be considered for this year’s sanitary pads distribution to identified needy schools.
She can be contacted on 081 888 9060 or by email at aphelelesidumo@gmail.com.
Businesses and private individuals who wish to donate to her cause can use the same contact details.
