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Writer Namupira, launches campaign to end period poverty.

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By Abel Mavura,

 

Cape Town-based Zimbabwean writer, Jurgen Namupira, launches a campaign to end period poverty.

This year, Jurgen has chosen to use his birthday to help underprivileged girls, who struggle on their menstrual cycles without sanitary pads.

In celebration of his birthday, Jurgen is collecting sanitary pads from family and friends to distribute on 2 May 2021. He looks forward to distribute an estimate of 100 packets on the day to help girls in need.

The campaign started with an online petition pushing for the free distribution of sanitary pads. Jurgen says, “if we can have free condoms, what stops us from giving our girls free sanitary pads?”

The whole idea was conceived after having realized that many girls miss school because they cannot afford sanitary pads. Hence the theme of his campaign, “Donate a pad, keep a girl in school.” According to a research undertaken by Stellenbosch University in South Africa, about 30% of South African girls miss school during menstruation because they cannot afford sanitary pads. Paul Herman also wrote that, according to past studies, these girls miss at least 50 days of school because of this predicament.

Plans are underway to expand the project beyond his birthday. If all goes well Jurgen looks forward to monthly distributions to different unaffording communitees. Currently, he is in contact with officials from Cape Town Social Development for recommendations on where to distribute.

editor
Abel Mavura is a journalist, editor, and writer whose work explores the intersections of cities, migration, and social justice. He tells stories about how people move, survive, and remake urban life under conditions of precarity, drawing on close field engagement and lived experience. Trained as a journalist at the Christian College of Southern Africa, Abel’s early work was rooted in media practice and community storytelling. Over time, his focus expanded into research and critical inquiry, allowing his writing to move fluidly between reportage, analysis, and long-form reflection. He is a graduate of Sciences Po Paris and is currently pursuing research at the University of Cambridge, where his work builds on earlier research into migration and informal housing. Abel is the author of three books, and his writing has appeared across platforms ranging from grassroots and community radio to international and policy-facing spaces. His work is grounded in clarity, ethical storytelling, and a commitment to centring voices often left out of mainstream narratives.

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