Our story

Poverty in Africa is not a foreign concept. In rural African villages, people are faced with a lack of basic needs, such as food, fresh water, clothes and education.

Now imagine being a 15 year-old girl trapped in this environment and imagine having your period. The stark reality is that when on their period, girls have no other option but to make use of bad shorts and plastic bags, which results in missing out on more or less 5 days of school every month. Missing up to 20% of their schooldays every year is making it even more difficult for these young girls to pass their exams.

This is why 60 Cycles was started.

In 2019, five students from Stellenbosch University set the goal to provide re-useable sanitary wear to the women in rural parts of Africa. One of these kits lasts for five years, therefore their next 60 cycles. We work with a company called SubzPads which provides these kits – each consisting of 3 panties and 9 attachable pads.

The goal of 60 Cycles is not only to provide these women with the kits, but to empower them to realize that their period is not something to be ashamed or embarrassed about. It is something we as women need to embrace.

Monkey Bay, Malawi

During 2019 60 Cycles raised enough funds through corporate donations and selling merchandise to provide 683 women with kits which were distributed in Monkey Bay, Malawi in January 2020. The five days we spent among these women changed our perspectives on not only our own lives and how fortunate we are, but also on how easy it is to bring a smile to the face of someone in need.

Although this project has already changed the lives of more than 600 young women, we hope to change the lives of many more throughout Africa and to do that we need YOUR help.

To sponsor one lady for her next 60 cycles costs R297. In other words, you have the opportunity to change a young woman’s entire high school experience for less than R300.

No woman should ever miss out on another opportunity just because of her period. In the words of Melissa Berton: periods should end sentences and not a girl’s education.