The Rotary Club of Armidale Central has received an international award for their work in South Africa

The Rotary Club of Armidale Central Project Dignity aims to change that.

In Ekuthuleni, a small village on the outskirts of Durban, young women are being given the tools to stay in school.

Rotary Club of Armidale Central international director Alan Francis said the project began in 2005.

“Project Dignity is to do with the girls’ menstruation time.

“They lose one week in every four at school,” Mr Francis said.

“It’s a very poor area and they haven’t got the availability and money to afford sanitary items so they stay at home, sit on loos and all sorts of things – it’s about giving them dignity as well.”

The school in Ekuthuleni has between 1600 and 1700 students.

The students have just one male and one female toilet between them.

Teachers have to travel more than a kilometre uphill to find their nearest bathroom.

“They didn’t have a library, they didn’t even have one library book, it was the poorest area I saw in South Africa,” Mr Francis said.

Before the project began, around 190 female students would fail their grade each year.

Since being provided sanitary items, that number has dropped to one.

“I think this is the project I’m most proud about because it’s made a lot of difference to a lot of girls’ lives,” Mr Francis said.

“You can’t cure all the world but if you can cure some part of it I guess that’s where you go.

“These women will become mothers and share their education with their children. Men tend to keep what they’ve learned to themselves.”

The club has also contributed to buying new books for the school library, paving the playground and installing new toilet facilities for the students and teachers.

Two weeks ago, the Rotary Club of Armidale Central was awarded the Annual Trophy for International Services for its work in Ekuthuleni.

Mr Francis said it means a lot to himself and other members of the club to be recognised for their work.

“To be given an international award for our work in Ekuthuleni is something we’re all really excited about,” he said.

As a result of the project the provincial government has decided to provide all female high school students with sanitary items.

“That’s a win-win situation,” Mr Francis said.

“We’re going to continue to commit money and resources to the project.

“It’s something I’m really proud to be a part of.”