Cape Town Sisters Aim to Alleviate Period Poverty and Run an Organisation to Empower Women and Girls
- Two amazing sisters in Cape Town are focused on alleviating period poverty through their organisation called The CORA Project
- Briefly News spoke to Aurora and Cleo Marcopoulos who opened up about their passion for women’s rights
- The pair further reflected on the overarching purpose of The CORA Project, which they explained is aimed at providing women and girls access to resources to help them manage their periods with dignity
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Two sisters in Cape Town are working hard to end period poverty through their organisation called The CORA Project.
Source: UGC
In many cultures, menstruation continues to be thought of as a taboo topic talked about in hushed terms – this is something Aurora and Cleo Marcopoulos are fighting to extinguish.
Briefly News spoke to the sisters to find out why they are so passionate about advocacy around periods.
Both women are multitalented and educated. Cleo holds a Bachelor of Arts in Media and Writing from the University of Cape Town (UCT), having been the fashion director at Cosmopolitan South Africa and the founder of Style Rotate and MOOD Agency.
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Furthermore, Aurora has a Master's degree in Conflict, Peace and Security from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, which she obtained cum laude, and Honours and Bachelor's qualifications in International Relations and Politics from Unisa and UCT respectively.
The sisters in Cape Town are firstly human rights activists
According to Aurora, the pair are passionate about women’s rights and the necessity for women and girls to have access to resources to manage their periods:
“These are rights that have often been neglected and need a stronger voice. An estimated 30% of girls in South Africa miss school when menstruating due to limited or no access to menstrual products.
“This takes away their basic human right. No one should be held back by something as natural and normal as a period. Girls and women have enough obstacles as it is to achieve their goals and dreams.
“We started The CORA Project to give girls and women access to the products and resources they need to manage their periods with dignity Period poverty is a pressing issue affecting underprivileged communities in South Africa and especially our schools, where young adults lack access to essential menstrual products, hygiene facilities, and education about menstruation.”
Although The CORA Project has its headquarters in Cape Town, the advocacy work done by the organisation goes far beyond the bounds of the Mother City.
The Cape Town sisters want to empower women
One of the key aims of The CORA Project is the empowerment of women and girls, especially those who are from under-resourced communities with no or little access to necessary resources to manage their periods:
“We support girls and women in South Africa by giving them access to the period products they need, as well as educating them on many important topics that have not been covered in their schools or households, such as menstrual health, periods, stigma, and the like.
“We have grown from when we were just an initiative collecting period products for other NGOs in 2020 to a Public Benefit Organisation that has worked with hundreds of girls and women.”
The sisters explain that a fundamental aspect of their advocacy is focused on eliminating shame around menstruation:
“We use our social media to raise awareness for our cause, as well as normalise periods through various campaigns.
“Our biggest campaign to raise awareness and funds for our cause is now during Women’s Month, called #RunForHer. We ask South Africans to run, donate and post. There are also amazing prizes to be won! But most importantly, we aim to support as many girls and women as we can.”
South African-Malawian gender activist and award-winning author aims to break negative menstruation stigmas
In a related story by Briefly News, an award-winning author, South African-Malawian gender activist, and PhD candidate aims to dismantle negative stereotypes that exist around menstruation.
The 27-year-old founded a non-profit organisation that provides menstrual empowerment workshops to educate people about the monthly cycle.
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Source: Briefly News
