Sue Barnes awarded Clarins’ Most Dynamic Woman of the Year award.
Barnes’ Project Dignity allows girls and young women to keep attending school while they are menstruating.
JOHANNESBURG – Sue Barnes, founder of Project Dignity, a remarkable initiative for South African school girls, has been recognised as the 2013 Clarins Most Dynamic Woman of the Year.
The awards were hosted at Johannesburg on Tuesday February 4. She received a cash prize of R150 000 and will receive a further R50 000 in 2015 to ensure the sustainability and further growth of her project.
Barnes’ Project Dignity allows girls and young women in townships and rural areas to keep attending school while they’re menstruating. She founded the project after she learned that many girls in poor communities skip school during their menstruation periods as they lack money to buy sanitary products.
They also put themselves at risk of infection by using unhygienic alternatives to sanitary pads, such as newspaper or even sand and leaves. As a result, millions of girls miss up to a quarter of their school days.
“My youngest daughter, who attends a remedial school due to her dyslexia, came home with appeals from her school for sanitary pads and panties. I went to the school to find out what it was all about, and discovered just how many South African girls skip school while menstruating.
“Immediately I thought of my own daughter. If she missed a week per month of school there is no way she would catch up. It’s tragic that anyone in their teen years should be faced with this dilemma,” said Barnes.
Barnes realised that donations of sanitary products would not provide a sustainable solution to this profound social challenge.
After much experimentation and several trial runs, she created a pair of panties with a clip-on, reusable pad which ensures the girls need never worry about running out of this essential item.
The pad is fully washable, can last for up to five years and has SABS absorbency approval. While handing out Project Dignity’s Subz packs, Barnes also gives the girls a unique set of education sessions on puberty, menstruation, personal hygiene, sexual health and HIV.
“Every year we are moved by the dozens of deserving nominations we receive, but Sue’s story is a truly inspirational one,” said Jody Hyam, Communications Executive of Clarins South Africa.
With the aid of her corporate and personal donors, Barnes has already been able to distribute 30 000 Subz Panty Pads to girls around the country.
