Elevate Her: Stand up for SA’s forgotten women this August

Last August, IOL set out to do something different for Women’s Month.

Instead of putting a spotlight on the women who are celebrated every year for their achievements in boardrooms, politics and entertainment, we turned the focus to the women no one sees.

The women we walk past on the street and turn our gazes away from. The ones who sleep under bridges, wash in public toilets and pray each night for dignity as much as shelter.

We called the campaign Elevate HER, and our aim was simple.

Give a voice to the women most South Africans ignore.

Listen to them, tell their stories and give them something as basic, yet as essential, as a clean pair of underwear and a bar of soap.

We didn’t know what to expect. We hoped people would care. What we didn’t expect was for them to care as much as they did.

In two weeks, we collected more than 300 dignity packs. Each one filled with items most of us take for granted — sanitary towels, roll-on, a toothbrush, socks, razors. Each one handed to a woman who was deeply grateful that someone thought of her basic need.

The response humbled and overwhelmed us. 

We saw people driving across town just to drop off donations. We saw businesses step up and say, “we’ve got this”.

We saw our colleagues, across departments and cities, rally behind the cause as if it were personal, because for many of us, it was.

Then there was Patricia Kaiser.

She was the first woman we featured. A mother of four, living on the streets, longing to be reunited with her children. Her story reached someone who once sat next to her in class.

That person reached out to us. And within days, Patricia was back in contact with the children who believed she was dead.

We even helped reunite her with her eldest daughter, someone she hadn’t seen in 27 years.

All this, because someone watched a video. Because someone shared it. Because someone believed in giving a homeless woman a second chance.

That is the power of storytelling. And that is the power of you, our readers, our partners, our community.

This year, we are back with the second edition of Elevate HER. The need hasn’t gone away. In fact, it’s grown. And so has our ambition. 

This year, we want to collect 1,000 dignity packs. And with your help, we know we can do it.

We are again asking for donations of new underwear, socks, soap, sanitary towels, toothbrushes, razors and roll-on. We will pack and distribute them in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. 

But we can’t do it alone.

If last year taught us anything, it’s that people are generous, people care, and people just need to be asked.

So, here we are. Asking.

Let’s Elevate Her again. Let’s bring dignity where there is none. Let’s listen to the women society has silenced.

And this time, let’s go even further.

For drop-off locations and how to get involved, visit the Elevate HER portal on IOL. 

IOL