Here's to looking at you, 2022.

As some of you may know, Periods for Hope celebrated our fifth birthday recently. It’s crazy to think that, what started off as a project between some university friends has grown into a registered NPO that’s been able to make a difference to the lives of women and men across the Western Cape. To celebrate, we decided to update our look and revisit our mission.

Here’s what some team members have to say about it:

When I joined Periods for Hope in 2020, it was a strange time. The organisation had to shift their tried-and-tested methods of knowledge dissemination through workshops and in-person meetings to an increasingly digital environment. Although this was a big task, I think it pushed us to think about what Periods for Hope is, and what we can become. Slowly, we adapted. We began to focus on a wider audience, boys and girls, we became “cool” by stepping up our social media game and we reevaluated our message. 

I’m extremely excited about our new direction. We’ve shifted slightly to embrace all things female, while staying accessible to males. Because a community includes both groups, right? This year, I hope to be vocal about pressing South African issues, such as teenage pregnancy and access to contraceptives. I also hope to be playful and fight taboos surrounding human-things like pleasure. There’s a fine middleground to find between being credible and transparent, while maintaining the fun and approachability, and I think we’re on our way to finding it. 

-Ciske

Being a team of students from all academic disciplines and spheres of life, it has been great to see how we’ve come together to grow Periods For Hope in the past few years. In previous years, Periods For Hope was largely focused on providing informational workshops to female learners. Over time, the focus of the informational workshops was expanded to accommodate male learners. These workshops focused on addressing the stigmas surrounding menstruation as well as gender-based violence, all of which being highly prominent within the areas we aim to help. The Periods For Hope team believe that in order to create a lasting impact, it is essential that both gender counterparts are well informed. 

From a fundraising perspective, the group has made great strides. The Run For Hope was established during 2020’s Covid-19 pandemic, and proved to be a great success. The event has proved to be Periods For Hope’s largest funding source and awareness contributor. We are extremely excited for 2022’s event, and believe that it is to be the most successful one yet!

-Christian

When I first started working with Periods For Hope we were not a registered NPO, had a different sanity product design and had not formed many partnerships with other NPO’s. Watching Periods For Hope grow over the past three years has been so exciting and I can’t wait to share with you all what we will get up to over the next few! During my time at Periods For Hope, I have been really involved in contacting schools to arrange workshops as well as facilitating the workshops with the rest of the team. In 2020, we were not able to host any in-person workshops due to Covid-19, therefore I shifted my focus towards arranging fundraisers. Christian and I took the initiative to arrange The Run For Hope and aim to make it a yearly event as this has been a main stream of fundraising, helping Periods For Hope reach many girls over the past two years.  

-Anya