Anelisiwe Valuvalu was in grade 11 at Kuyasa Combined School in Port Alfred when a field trip in 2022 offered new hope for the girls in her community.
She and fellow Interact Club members attended a presentation at Port Alfred High School on reusable sanitary towels made from pineapple leaf fibres in the nearby town of Bathurst.
Sitting in the audience, Valuvalu wondered whether the answer to the long-standing problem of township girls lacking access to menstrual hygiene products could be just 12km away.
After the presentation, she approached the product’s creator, Bathurst businesswoman Candy Androliakos, and told her it could be life-changing for girls in Nemato Township and beyond.
Now 19 and studying for a degree in foundational-phase education at the University of Fort Hare, Valuvalu remembers Androliakos handing her samples to share with her peers.
“I immediately knew it was an incredible product,” she said.
“You can’t always afford normal sanitary towels, so being able to reuse them makes such a difference.”
Raised in a household where both parents were unemployed, Valuvalu knew first-hand the challenges faced by schoolgirls.
During the June exams in 2022, her period started unexpectedly.
“Our uniform was powder-blue, so stains were very visible. We didn’t have sanitary towels at school.
“A classmate wrapped his jersey around my waist, but I had to go home to change,” she said.
That experience strengthened her resolve to promote the product.
Today, she is an ambassador for Leafline and hopes to host an event on campus to raise awareness.
“When something helps you and you know others face the same problem, you have to reach out,” she said.
“This is about helping others, not just looking after myself.”
SPAR Eastern Cape, which supports the #EndPeriodPoverty campaign, partnered with Androliakos several years ago through its Petals initiative.
Advertising manager Roseann Shadrach said the retailer had inspired shoppers to donate more than 14 million packs of menstrual products to NGOs locally and abroad since 2019.
Androliakos, credited as the first person in the world to use absorbent pineapple leaf fibres to produce soft, washable fabric for sanitary towels, said she would never forget the young pupil who ran after her, insisting the product be introduced in the township.
“She’s taken it upon herself to get involved in our projects. She’s passionate and very good at what she does,” Androliakos said.
About seven million South African women are affected by period poverty, with one in three pupils missing up to five days of school every month because they cannot afford sanitary products.
Daily Dispatch
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