There are burdens a schoolgirl should never have to carry into a classroom. Worrying about her next sanitary pad is one of them.
It is a silent crisis that plays out across schools in Eswatini every month, with girls missing lessons, losing confidence, or being forced to improvise in ways that no child should. Eswatini Mobile has chosen to confront that reality head-on.
In the fourth week of its Let’s Pay Your Bill: Back to School Edition campaign, Eswatini Mobile visited Sitjeni Primary School to donate sanitary pads and girls’ underwear, providing essential support to female learners who need it most.
The delegation, which included members of the Eswatini Mobile Executive Committee alongside the broader company team, was warmly received by the school’s Head Teacher, Mrs Nkambule, who described the gesture as timely and deeply meaningful.
“This is a need that has existed for a long time. I am genuinely surprised and moved by this gesture. It will relieve so much stress from our girls,” said Mrs Nkambule.
Speaking on behalf of Eswatini Mobile Chief Executive Officer Sydney Sichula, Chief Information Officer Genius Sihlongonyane delivered a message that went to the heart of the campaign’s purpose.
“Eswatini Mobile is donating these sanitary pads because there is only one thing a student should be worried about, and that is school. Making sure they do well and pass their exams, not worrying about sanitary pads. These are things that should never stand between a girl and her education,” said Sihlongonyane.
The message was simple: a girl in a classroom should be thinking about her future, not her next period.
Period poverty is not a new problem, but it remains one that is rarely spoken about openly. When girls lack access to sanitary products, the consequences ripple outward. Absenteeism rises, academic performance dips, and the confidence that every learner deserves begins to erode. By bringing this issue into the open and responding to it practically, Eswatini Mobile has signalled that corporate responsibility must go beyond the visible and address the overlooked.
A Campaign Built on Dignity
The Sitjeni Primary School visit was one stop in a nationwide journey that has seen Eswatini Mobile show up for learners with practical and dignified support. This campaign has reached schools across the country with a consistent message: no child should be left behind because of circumstances beyond their control.
The Let’s Pay Your Bill: Back to School Edition began at Machegwini Primary School in the Nkhaba Inkhundla, where 41 pairs of school shoes were presented to vulnerable learners. It then moved to Mkhondvo High School in the Shiselweni Region, where toiletries, school uniforms, and groceries were donated, and individual support extended to one of the school’s most vulnerable pupils.
A visit to Lavundlamanti High School followed, where Eswatini Mobile cleared E5,000 in school fees for a Form 3 learner and provided a brand-new full school uniform. The campaign concluded at Sitjeni Primary School with the donation of sanitary pads and girls’ underwear.
At every school visited, CEO Sydney Sichula has aligned the initiative with the vision of His Majesty King Mswati III for a First World Eswatini, emphasising that education is the foundation of national development and that supporting learners is not charity, but a national imperative.
Through the campaign, Eswatini Mobile has demonstrated that its ambition to become Africa’s Leading Integrated Business Partner is not merely a commercial aspiration, but one anchored in community, in children, and in the kind of future that a generation of well-supported learners can build.
