PowerGirls Archive - Hugo Tempelman Stiftung

“Now I’m going to school – with dignity.” Voices from the project show what really counts.

In recent months, together with the Deutsche Postcode Lottery and the Ndlovu Care Group, we have been able to supply over 4,900 girls in the Moutse region of South Africa with menstrual hygiene products – specifically with over 11,600 packs of sanitary towels in April and May 2025 alone.

What seems like a purely logistical figure means something completely different on the ground: security, dignity and genuine participation in everyday education.

The feedback from the schools shows how urgently this help was needed:

“Before the program, some of our girls were missing several days a month. Now they are confident in class.” – Principal

“I am so grateful. My daughter can now go to school like everyone else.” – Mother

“Menstruation must not be a barrier to education. This project helps us to change that.” – Teacher

However, the provision of hygiene products alone is only part of the success. Accompanying information events and talks, for example by the PowerMamas, have integrated the topic of menstruation openly and sensitively into everyday school life – a big step against stigmatization and for education.

During Menstrual Hygiene Month in May 2025 in particular, the initiative was able to increase its reach once again – with school campaigns, talks and targeted distribution. The positive response from the entire community shows how great the need is and how profound the impact is.

Together with the German Postcode Lottery, we are continuing our efforts to ensure that no girl is prevented from learning due to a lack of sanitary products. Education starts with dignity – and dignity sometimes starts with something as simple as a pack of sanitary towels.

A small product, a big impact – education begins with dignity

Mädchen in Südafrika freuen sich über die Verteilung kostenloser Monatshygieneprodukte durch die Hugo Tempelman Stiftung

By providing free menstrual hygiene products, the Hugo Tempelman Foundation and the German Postcode Lottery are improving menstrual hygiene and sustainably strengthening the educational opportunities of girls in South Africa.

The Hugo Tempelman Foundation is working with the German Postcode Lottery to improve educational opportunities for girls in South Africa. Recently, our PowerGirls received monthly hygiene products as part of a large-scale campaign, which we financed in a joint fundraising campaign.

At an information event, which required a great deal of empathy on this topic, the PowerMamas educated the girls about personal hygiene and its importance. After all, access to hygiene products is not just a question of health – it is also about dignity, self-confidence and unrestricted access to education.

Millions of girls in South Africa regularly miss school due to a lack of menstrual hygiene. This initiative provides a remedy: with the production and free distribution of sanitary towels by the Ndlovu Care Group – made possible by our foundation and the Postcode Lottery – we give girls a bit of normality and security on their way into the future.

Our common goal: No girl should be excluded from education because of her period.

Sanitary pads for girls - donated as part of an empowerment project — A strong signal for equal rights and equal opportunities – pad for pad.

Menstrual hygiene workshop with committed women from the MAMAS Alliance — A strong signal for equal rights and equal opportunities – pad for pad.

Hugo Tempelman Foundation and Postcode Lottery Germany improve educational opportunities for girls in South Africa

Lack of menstrual hygiene as a barrier to education

Millions of girls in South Africa cannot afford menstrual hygiene products. A lack of education, inadequate sanitary facilities and financial hardship mean that many girls stay away from school during their periods. This not only affects their educational opportunities, but can also lead to health risks.

Support from the Hugo Tempelman Foundation

To counteract this problem, the Hugo Tempelman Foundation, with financial support from the German Postcode Lottery, enables the production of monthly hygiene products. These are distributed free of charge to affected girls via the Ndlovu Care Group.

Sustainable impact on education and health

The provision of these products has far-reaching positive effects: As well as reducing health risks, the girls can attend classes regularly, boost their self-confidence and improve their future prospects.

“For many young girls, the lack of hygiene products means they miss school and struggle with feelings of shame. This initiative gives them the opportunity to focus on their education and participate in social life without worry,” explained the Ndlovu Care Group.

Future prospects for young women

The commitment of the Hugo Tempelman Foundation not only overcomes acute challenges, but also sets a long-term course for a better future for young women in South Africa.

Supply of menstrual hygiene products in South Africa

Award for the sustainable work of the Ndlovu Care Group

Ndlovu Care Group was recognized for excellence in monitoring and evaluation (M&E) at the MTN South Africa Awards for Social Change 2022.

Now in its fourth year, the prestigious award recognizes NPOs (non-profit organizations) that have been conducting M&E for at least two years and can provide convincing evidence of the positive impact of their programs or projects. The jury particularly highlighted the robustness of the program, in which M&E processes are continuously reviewed and refined.

“For us, M&E is not just a tick in a list, but part of the programmatic processes. We have tried to institutionalize M&E from the top down. It is an honor and a pleasure to win this award, which will motivate us to further strengthen our M&E in all areas to ensure that our programs are relevant, effective and efficient,” says Moses Mashingaidze, who is responsible for monitoring, evaluation and reporting at Ndlovu Care Group.

Morongwa Magonga, Moses Mashingaidze and Lethabo Sekele from the Ndlovu Care Group (from left to right)

Training at the new boxing school in Elandsdoorn

Nikki Adler’s newly opened boxing school in Elandsdoorn is extremely popular. There are currently 40 girls enrolled. Rina trains here regularly with the little ones.

World Mental Health Day – Not all scars are visible

Yesterday marked the 30th anniversary of the Mental Health Action Day. It aims to raise awareness, make information about mental illness accessible and express solidarity with mentally ill people and their families.

In hardly any other country are violent attacks on women as ubiquitous as in South Africa. The corona lockdown has exacerbated the situation. Emotional, psychological, sexual, economic abuse – this is still commonplace in the lives of many women. The psychological consequences are long-term, unseen and untreated.

There is no therapeutic treatment: this value is not only priceless for many, but also unrecognized, as abusive everyday life is normal in many cases.

The Hugo Tempelman Foundation actively supports and strengthens the Ndlovu Care Group’s commitment to creating awareness in this area. With the founding of PowerGirls, even very young women are to be given an understanding of self-worth and personal responsibility.

Our latest project is to work with Nikki Adler to set up a boxing school for young girls in Elandsdoorn. Self-defense and self-confidence are core skills that the boxing world champion wants to teach.

Opening of the boxing school for girls in Elandsdoorn with boxing world champion Nikki Adler

This Friday, boxing world champion Nikki Adler and the Hugo Tempelman Foundation are opening a boxing school for girls in Elandsdoorn, South Africa. The aim: to empower girls, boost their self-confidence, make them aware of their own strength and show them how to defend themselves for their own protection. This is particularly important in view of the fact that South Africa has one of the highest rape rates in the world.

The first girls learn boxing at the Nikki Adler boxing school in Elandsdoorn.

Nikki Adler with her two trainers Rina and Venice.

The Ndlovu Youth Choir performs at the opening of the boxing school.

PowerGirls every day!

PowerGirls is a program that aims to support young adolescent women.

The issue of menstrual hygiene also plays a crucial role here. The young girls stay at home once a month for a week because there is simply no money to buy sanitary pads. During their period, the girls often simply don’t come to school at all and thus miss an enormous amount of lessons.

The Ndlovu Care Group received a delivery of 384,000 packs of sanitary towels in the last few days. These will be distributed to the girls to ensure that they can attend school regularly, even during their periods.

The dignity of girls is a fundamental part of the PowerGirls program.

Nikki Adler, boxing world champion, founds boxing school for girls with Hugo Tempelman Foundation

Nikki Adler started boxing as a teenager and promised herself at the very beginning: “If I become world champion one day, I’ll build a school in Africa.” Professional boxer Nikki Adler (32) has won six world titles in her extraordinary career, including the golden WBC super middleweight belt.

For girls in particular, boxing can open up a whole new world. South Africa has one of the highest rape rates in the world. Empowering women, promoting their self-confidence

and to show them how they can defend themselves for their own protection is particularly close to Nikki Adler’s heart. “In Germany, I already had to fight hard for my dream in a male-dominated world, but these conditions for a self-determined life are so much tougher and unfair. This is the right place to fulfill my promise.”

At the beginning of the month, some members of the foundation visited the Ndlovu Care Group in Elandsdoorn together with Nikki to get a first impression. Nikki was impressed by the whole concept, the location and, above all, the people who live here. So it was no longer a question of whether she wanted to get involved here. It was more a question of when she could start.

Nikki immediately began looking for a local trainer to teach the girls. Charlotte, whose journey we have been following for many years, immediately made herself available.

The two hit it off straight away. Charlotte completed her first training sessions with Nikki on site. In future, regular training and instruction sessions will be held via video. And Charlotte will then pass on her knowledge to the girls on site.

Hugo Tempelman is enthusiastic about the project: “If you look around Africa, it is always the strong woman who carries Africa. But there is so much injustice against women. In the area where we live, young girls have a lot of problems with rape, abuse and lack of respect. With Nikki, we have learned that boxing is not just a combat sport, but also a defense sport. When we start a program like this together with such a professional on the team, it’s great.”

Charlotte, Hugo, Vivi Eickelberg and Nikki Adler at boxing training.

Nikki and Charlotte immediately began their first training sessions.

Charlotte passes on what she has learned directly to the young women.

Charlotte and Nikki are the perfect team.

Promoting girls in sport

The Ndlovu Care Group has also placed a particular focus on girls when promoting children’s sport. For example, it has set up its own girls’ soccer team.

And while the country is now looking forward to hosting the International Netball Championships, Limpopo is preparing in its own unique way. The Ndlovu Fitness Center is hosting the Moutse Netball League on the Elandsdoorn Cruyff Courts.

Last week, the Dennilton Mighty Stars opened against the Ndlovu Bloempoort Netball Girls and won with a score of 23:20.