About BAWSS Foundation
BAWSS Foundation is a non-profit organization focused on ensuring that every girl in need in Eswatini has access to dignified menstrual care and hygiene products, wherever they are. We procure sanitary products facilitated through funding obtained from companies, organizations and individuals. Sanitary products are then distributed and donated to girls and young women in schools, under-served communities and correctional facilities.
For billions of girls and young women worldwide, menstruation is a monthly reality. Yet in many countries, including Eswatini, people still face serious challenges when managing their needs. Research has shown that girls from poor backgrounds could miss up to 50 days of school each year due to menstrual-related challenges.
A lack of adequate facilities and materials can restrict girls’ movements during their period, leaving them feeling ashamed or ‘unclean’ and contributing to them skipping school. In addition, taboos, myths, and shame surrounding menstruation can lead to teasing, shaming, and exclusion from daily activities and have a negative effect on girls’ feelings of dignity. In Eswatini, we have girls who use dried cow dung, socks, newspapers, and tissue when they are on their period.
The BAWSS founder, Anele Shabangu, has previously been working with girls and women who reached out to her mainly via letters and social media. The target is to now expand the activities and work in collaboration with schools, communities, and traditional structures to identify girls and young women who are most in need. The foundation has managed to raise funds and donate sanitary pads to 25,000 girls (75,000 packets of pads); with each girl, receiving 1 – 3 packs of pads depending on their menstrual flow needs. This has been achieved through donation events held at (number) schools across all regions of the country.
WHY DO WE DO OUR WORK?
As an NGO that donates sanitary pads all we do is support individuals in managing their menstrual health effectively and with dignity, through a combination of distribution, education, advocacy, and sustainability efforts.
We do this because we believe that each and every girl out there deserves a proper menstruation period with proper menstrual hygiene products. Lastly, we are trying by all means to minimise menstrual poverty in our community.
OUR VISION
We envision that every woman and girl in Eswatini is treated with dignity and respect and has access to menstrual hygiene products wherever they are.
OUR OBJECTIVES
The objectives of BAWSS Foundation are:
- To raise funds through partnerships with individuals, companies, and organizations to procure menstrual hygiene products.
- To directly distribute menstrual hygiene products to girls and women in under-served communities.
- To provide menstrual health education to girls and young women in our communities.
- To raise awareness of menstrual health issues through advocacy initiatives.
OUR PARTNERS
