Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 118, May 2019 | Page 27

Collecting and delivering
all the pads
PJ’S PIECE
By PJ Moses
Running for More
Than Medals
I run because I want to change the man I was yesterday. I
run to evolve as a human being. I run to be a better physical,
spiritual and mental version of me. But even with this
motivation behind my constant urge to run, there are times
when I need a little more fuel to lace my running shoes.
family and colleagues to donate for every step she was planning to take at her first
marathon. That is how Running4Pads was born. She successfully completed her
first marathon on unsteady legs, but with a big smile and a fist pump in the air. More
importantly, with the help of a few individuals and the support of the public, Amanda
was able to collect over 2000 packs of sanitary pads in that first campaign.
This small-framed but big-hearted woman from the Atlantic Seaboard filled up her
little Hyundai with black bags full of sanitary pads and headed out to the notorious
township of Manenberg on the Cape Flats. Here she met the staff of Manenberg
High School, who faced all kinds of obstacles, like crime, drugs, gangsterism,
violence, etc on a daily basis, and the reality of it all became real. “They were
so grateful for this small gesture of compassion from a stranger, and also that
somebody took the time to listen to their stories, that it broke my heart. But it also
steeled my will.”
First of Many
And that was just the start of her amazing journey. Using social media as a way
of getting more people involved, with the hashtag #KeepGirlsInSchool, and then
starting a non-profit company, this single mom with a fulltime job knew that she
could not stop with just one marathon, or just the one sanitary pad campaign. So
Amanda has gone all in. “I could not abandon the cause. I knew I could not solve
the bigger issues, but I could help alleviate this one. It was one thing less for the
girls to worry about and one thing less for the schools to do.”
Amanda Smith
T
hat’s why the big races have charities attached to them, which sells
thousands of entries. It feels great to run for those who can’t, especially
when the going gets tough, because this drives many of us to reach further
than we thought possible. It has certainly had a great impact on my life, and I am
blessed to use my feet in such a positive way, notably to help the Running4Pads
initiative.
An Idea is Born
When rookie marathon runner Amanda Smith decided that she needed extra
motivation to train for her debut marathon in 2016, she found the need for free
sanitary pads in schools a worthy campaign to get behind. Many young girls miss
up to a month of school days per year because they can’t afford a pack of sanitary
pads. They often have to use whatever they can find, like old newspapers, rags,
toilet paper, etc, to stop their monthly bloodflow. Many poor families see sanitary
pads as a luxury and not a health necessity – there just isn’t enough money to
spend on something that takes funds away from the food bill.
Amanda discovered this was a major issue in the lives of many girls, so she
decided to help raise awareness and also to collect pads by asking friends,
Over the past three years she and her NPC partners and volunteers have worked
hard to build long-term relationships with schools across the Cape Town area.
They have travelled all over, to places Amanda
never dreamt of going before, like Manenberg,
Gugulethu, Athlone and Khayelitsha, to deliver
sanitary pads. “I have a great team of people
who have joined me on this amazing journey. The
majority are runners like me, but there are also
some walkers, and even people assisting who
don’t do any sport, but are just drawn to this
amazing cause. You don’t need to be a runner to
change the world,” she says.
Amanda has created more than just a company,
she has started a movement to fight for the
dignity of young girls, with more people joining
her cause daily, even getting support from
people who are overseas. “I will keep raising
awareness, collecting donations and distributing
as much as possible until this is no longer an
issue, and until sanitary pads are distributed free
to those who can’t afford to purchase them. This
is not a sprint, but an ultra.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: PJ is a former Cape Flats gangster who took up
running, and writing about it, when he turned his back on that dangerous
lifestyle in order to set a better example for his two sons. Today he is an
accomplished runner, from short distances to ultra-marathons, recently began
working in running retail, and his exceptional writing talent has opened still
more doors in his new life.
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