#DESACares is an initiative supported by staff members of the Department of Enrolment and Student Administration (DESA) at the University of Pretoria. Their first project was in aid of the Sistagirl Foundation, an organisation that produces and distributes 'dignity packs' for underprivileged schoolgirls. A dignity pack contains sanitary towels, soap, a facecloth, a toothbrush, toothpaste and roll-on deodorant.

According to research, girls who cannot afford sanitary products miss approximately five days of school during their monthly cycles. This amounts to 60 missed school days in a school year of 197 days. Without sanitary products, girls are unfairly excluded from accessing their basic right to education, as stipulated by our Constitution.

In addition to distributing dignity packs, the Sistagirl Foundation facilitates talks with young women regarding menstrual health, regaining confidence, the importance of self-image and related topics.    #DESACares, the Faculty of Theology and the Fees Division of the Department of Finance managed to secure 105 complete dignity packs, as well as 162 individual sanitary towel packages that were handed over to the organisation at the UP Staff Spring Day celebration on Wednesday, 13 September 2017. The project will be approached with fresh vigour in 2018.

About Sistagirl Foundation

Sistagirl Foundation is a registered non-profit organization (NPO 148-013) with the Department of Social Development. It aims to empower at-risk and underprivileged girls and women from marginalized communities with skills, abilities and a sense of self-worth, in the fight to overcome social injustice. In so doing, they are turning young girls into phenomenal women who will transform society.