Empowering young girls
One pad at a time
Million’s of girls like Nonjabulo miss school & suffer poor health due to a lack of menstrual products. Together, we can fight period poverty and secure brighter future for her and others.
All We Ask Is For Your
Support In Raising Awareness
Just showing your interest, helps us spread the word
Period Poverty: A Shameful Silence
Star Khulu – Siya Brand Ambassador
It’s Time To Uncover The Inhumane Truth
The scale of the problem is far worse than you can possibly imagine. This is the sad reality of Period Poverty..
60 days of education
a year lost
These young girls are afraid to go to school, or even outside during their period cycle, fearing embarrassment and shame until it passes. They miss over 25% of valuable education time each year, drastically affecting their opportunities and progress in life
dangerous, unsanitary
alternatives
Over 7 million young girls lack access to basic female hygiene products like sanitary pads. They are forced to use unsafe, undignified alternatives such as cardboard, old rags, even leaves and bark, risking their health, through bacterial infections that can lead to death.
ridicule, social stigma,
& violence
Lack of resources leaves these girls exposed to humiliation and bullying, reinforcing harmful societal taboos. The resulting shame and isolation deprives them of equal opportunities, deepening gender inequalities and perpetuating cycles of poverty and exclusion.
Why Your Support Matters
For families living in poverty, a heartbreaking choice is a daily reality..
Period poverty forces them to decide: use the little money their families have for food like bread, or buy menstrual sanitary products.
Girls are forced to miss school, face embarrassment and fall behind, all because of something natural that they are ashamed to even mention.
It’s more than a lack of products. It’s a barrier to education, opportunity, and self-worth.
Together at SIYA we are working to break this cycle. Your support not only provides awareness, but also hope for a brighter future for these girls.
Nonjabulo’s Journey To Hope
Nonjabulo was once forced to miss school, hiding in derelict buildings to avoid the bullying and shame of her period.
Today, thanks to donations from people like you, Nonjabulo’s education and opportunities as a young woman are reinstated.
You can ensure no girl faces this hardship again.
“I used to hide in an old mill during my period, too scared to face the teasing at school. SIYA found me, gave me pads, and taught me about my cycle. They saved my education and my dream of becoming a journalist. I’ll never forget their kindness and support.”
Our Mission: Dignity for Every Girl
Siyakunakekela is a trusted nonprofit that steps in where others do not, delivering free pads to schools, educating on menstrual health, and giving girls the confidence and dignity to stay in school.
Our transparent operations, community partnerships, and proven impact have made us a beacon of hope for thousands.
Every donation supports real change, with 100% of contributions going directly to programs that help girls like Nonjabulo thrive.
Together, we’re building a future where no girl is held back by her period.
Your Impact, Their Future
Your voice matters. By signing your name in support, you join a growing movement to end period poverty and show girls like Nonjabulo that they’re not alone.
Siyakunakekela works tirelessly with schools and families to provide free menstrual products and education to keep girls in school and on track for a brighter future.
If you wish to offer help via funding a donation of just $10 provides a month’s supply of pads for one girl.
Whether you sign in solidarity or donate, your support is a lifeline for girls who need it most. Together, we can build a future of dignity and opportunity for all.
How Will You Make Your Impact?
Choose to make a one-time gift or join our monthly donor community.Your contribution directly supports menstrual products and education for girls in need.
Over the years SIYA is proud to be leading the change on Period Poverty and subsequently the social knock on effect of empowering young females to achieve the opportunities they deserve.
224+
Schools Helped
122,000+
Days of School Saved
15,000+
Lives Changed
Our integrity means everything to us here at SIYA. We offer 100% transparency in our donation distribution to ensure we get products and support to the young girls that need it the most.
Sanitary Supplies
Outreach & Awareness
Support & Resources
Where is Siyakunakekela In Action NOW?
Empowering The Future Of Girls at Emisebeni School
At Emisebeni School, Nonjabulo and another 112 young girls urgently need support to stay in school and have the same chance at a happy life that we all do.
The Siya team reached out to the school after receiving a letter from one of the children’s mothers at the school. She wrote:
“As a mother living in poverty, I fear for many things for my young daughter in this world. The thought that she may grow up without an education and unable to have the chance to break this cycle of poverty haunts me every day..”(translated)
As a result, Siyakunakekela is proud to be actively working to provide free sanitary products and education to the school, ensuring girls like Nonjabulo can focus on learning and achieving their dreams.
All we need is a little help to give another fragile group of young women the dignity they deserve.
Emisebeni Junior Primary School
Help us reach our goal to deliver pads and support to these children
6,720 days of education saved
Take a trip to Soweto, Johannesburg, and you’ll find happy children playing, learning, and – most importantly – thriving at Emisebeni Junior Primary School.
The school came to our attention during our national outreach program as one in desperate need. We discovered that many of the pupils at Emisebeni come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and we felt duty-bound to help them escape period poverty.
The school provides a safe and welcoming environment for a total of 298 children, 112 of whom needed our support with their menstruation and sanitary needs.
Many people are aware of the lack of funds for sanitary products, making life even more difficult for South Africa’s young women. But what they often fail to realise is the impact on education.
Every young woman who experiences period poverty in South Africa misses a minimum of 60 days of learning each year. Multiply this by 7 million, and the scale of the problem is hard to comprehend. Period poverty doesn’t just hold back one individual from achieving great things in life—it holds back an entire nation from reaching its full potential.
We ensure that our 100% biodegradable sanitary products are delivered directly to those in need. And it’s our dedicated team of local drivers that makes sure this happens, making us immensely proud to support the local economy by providing paid employment, too.
If the thought of a young woman losing her education due to a perfectly natural, monthly occurrence fills you with a sense of injustice, please consider supporting us with a donation. Just £1 per month can lift a young woman out of period poverty for the rest of her life.
A little glamour greatly helps the cause
Moroka, Johannesburg, is where 1,245 children attend Noordgesig Secondary School. It was brought to our attention through our outreach program back in 2022. Sadly, they face many of the same social challenges that most of our schools endure—period poverty being among the most serious.
That’s why we jumped at the chance to highlight the period poverty they were facing. We used this opportunity to cultivate further awareness of our cause and to help even more young women across Soweto ease the burden of dealing with their monthly cycle.
Carla Niemand, a semi-finalist in Mrs South Africa 2022, helped tremendously by bringing her warm nature, glamour appeal, and passion for helping young people.
Her involvement included joining us for a sanitary pad donation drive at the school, encouraging the girls to grow into confident, independent women and highlighting the importance of dignity in menstruation.
What made the whole campaign even more effective was the SABC Fullview Period Poverty campaign, broadcast from Noordgesig Secondary School in June 2022 with Siyakunakekela. It focused on the importance of dignity in menstruation, the impact of community and family on young girls, and the role of government and the private sector in addressing period poverty.
This was a very proud moment for us; we’ve already yielded many benefits—more awareness, more donations, and greater recognition of the essential work we do at Siyakunakekela.
We would love you to get on board with our work. Our mission has always been to eradicate period poverty. Its blight on society is unacceptable, and we need to not only provide the sanitary products young women need to grow and prosper but also change the opinions of many who still see this natural act as something dirty and degrading.
Please help us to help them.
Social stigma, ridicule, loss of education—all challenges that burden young women as a result of period poverty. Ask any one of the 120 girls we’ve helped at Reagile Primary School in Thembisa, a township in South Africa.
But as much as we’ve helped them as individuals, the problem itself creates an even greater challenge for society—progression.
Let us not forget that the educated youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow. When you consider that those in period poverty lose up to 60 days of education a year—affecting millions of young women—you start to see how South African society as a whole loses out.
South Africa is a stunningly beautiful country. Its people are vibrant, positive, and strive to help one another. But much of this ambition is hindered by the reduction in education that period poverty brings.
Our commitment to eradicating period poverty isn’t just driven by our passion to help those young students; it’s also powered by our pursuit of a better South Africa—one that can hold its head up on the global stage and be counted. But we can only achieve this by addressing issues at a grassroots level.
Sadly, our government is failing its people in too many ways to mention here.
We need your help—not just for healthier, happier girls who are free from social stigma and unsanitary methods of managing their monthly cycles, but to build a better future for all South Africans. Please get involved with our cause and become instrumental in creating a better, genuinely more progressive world.
The goal is always the same: destroy period poverty in South Africa!
Yes, the name of the school does sound like a character out of a blockbuster sci-fi movie, but as much as we would like to make light of the work we do, we have no such privilege.
Megatong Primary School is the educational home to 332 young students.
Located in Mapetla Extension, Soweto, it faces more than its fair share of hardship, poverty, and social challenges—like many schools in the region.
We became involved with this amazing hub of knowledge-hungry youngsters when we embarked on our initial outreach program in the Soweto region back in October 2022.
Once again, what we discovered shocked us: young girls were using anything from old socks to mud and grass to deal with their monthly cycle. And, many hadn’t even told their families for fear of punishment and ridicule.
We hit the ground running, recruiting a network of delivery drivers, equipping them with our own brand of 100% cotton, biodegradable sanitary towels, and setting them to work on distribution.
It’s important for our potential donors to know that we don’t just stop at providing a few months’ supply of sanitary products. We ensure that these young girls have the products they need to manage their cycles for as long as necessary.
Good sanitary products are expensive and often hard to come by, as they are still seen merely as a luxury, not an essential part of a woman’s life.
Please take some time to read the many stories of how we’ve helped other schools in the Soweto region. Once you’ve done that, please consider donating. Remember: just £1 per month can help one child avoid the despicable social disadvantages of period poverty.
Our Manufacturers
Getting the right product was a major challenge. The product has to be biodegradable, free from any pollutants, and ideally manufactured in SA. After requesting tenders from various suppliers, we found V & G Personal Products (Pty) Ltd, an amazing manufacturer based in Cape Town. They are doing a wonderful job in producing and packaging the sanitary towels we send out.
Non-profit organisation number NPO: 289-861
Public Beneficiary Organisation number PBO: 930071093
