Sometimes really rad stories pop in to my inbox that are worth sharing. It’s usually because they inspire and motivate. This is one of those stories.
Vodacom’s Chief Officer of Corporate Affairs, Maya Makanjee, happens to also sit on the board of the Nelson Mandela Foundation. She’s a woman who has climbed the corporate ladder and is a fantastic example of women taking their place in the boardroom (we need more there, stat).
Maya, and Vodacom, have decided to use their Vodacom foundation to provide support to an initiative called Caring4Girls. Caring4Girls focuses on keeping girls in school during their menstrual cycle. Confused? Well because of lack of access to feminine hygiene products and the stigma surrounding their monthly cycles, many girls miss up to 50 days of school a year completely unnecessarily. Maya says that education for girls is something rather close to her heart and she doesn’t believe the most natural of human functions should be a reason for them to miss out on it.
Education, Caring4Girls, menstrual cycles and a cellphone network. You’re following right?
Two days ago (on 13 July) a group of South Africans left SA to start an expedition to climb Mount Kilimanjaro as part of Trek4Mandela. Their aim: to raise awareness and money for the Caring4Girls initiative. Maya is part of this group and she’s looking forward to the challenge. She also said that she was determined to get to the highest point in Africa on Mandela’s birthday. Mandela believed in literacy, respect and dignity for all and that is exactly what the Caring4Girls project is about.
So, because Vodacom provides coverage all the way to Mount Kilimanjaro, Maya is going to be sharing her incredible journey with all of us on her Sony Xperia M4 Aqua (which was sponsored by Sony, good going Sony).
You can follow her on Twitter @MayaMakanjee and make a R30 donation by SMSing ‘MAYA’ to 42513. By donating you could stand a chance to win your own Sony Xperia M4 Aqua in a lucky draw.
To find out more about #Trek4Mandela you should click here.
Disclaimer: This wasn’t sponsored. Rad things get shared on this blog for mahala. This is one of those rad things.
