There’s an Instagram page where South Africans can confess all kinds of stories. But, the most talked about confession isn’t a scandal or a hilarious ‘only in South Africa’ tale. It was the story of someone who had run out of money for tampons and made a decision that changed her life forever.
South Africa (19 September 2024) — There’s a place where people can go to make confessions in South Africa; no priest or reality show required. If you have Instagram, you probably know exactly the spot. It’s a page dedicated to letting South Africans share all kinds of secrets—from the hilarious ones to the downright scandalous and oftentimes, meaningful.
Confessions.za does a great job of giving locals a place to connect over all of it, share advice when necessary and enjoy a laugh or two. The whole page is anonymous.
But amid all the crazy stories South Africans have shared (many of which could be turned into movies), one is the most talked about.
From Pretoria, a South African made confession number 3852. It reads as follows:
“My family and I never had a lot of money growing up. I managed to get into uni for law, but we couldn’t afford it so I took out a student loan. To pay off the loan and to support myself I started working as a waitress, where I earn just enough money to pay rent/food etc.
“I ran out of money and at the same time started my period. I was completely broke and ashamed as I am, I tried to steal tampons cause I had no money to buy them. I got caught and got a criminal record for it. Due to the record I was forced to stop studying law. All my dreams and aspirations down the drain in a second. Just like that…”
The page owners shared that it was a confession that touched everyone’s hearts and is still the one that many South Africans talk about.
It wasn’t just because people felt sympathetic. It was because this confession, in such a personal telling, represented the reality for so many women in a country where period poverty is a very real enemy.
But the story didn’t end there. People wanted to help, make changes and improve circumstances for women just like the confessor.
Related Story
As such, the Confessions team joined forces with Mama Flo—a Cape Town-based charity on a mission to alleviate period poverty— in a most heartwarming effort.
The plan was to provide immediate support, and as much of it as possible through donations, product drop-offs and encouraging people to run their own sanitary product drives in their communities.
Incredibly, in just 48 hours after the plan went live, the Instagram page facilitators and Mama Flo raised over R54,900. Currently, their crowdfunding initiative has raised over R55,000, just a few thousand away from the R60,000 goal.
It’s an incredible example of a community coming together over something as simple as getting real about challenges you’ve faced. More importantly, it’s a reminder that the women facing the period poverty crisis are not statistics as they’re so often presented.
As for the confessor, the comment section has been aflame with messages of solidarity, with some even offering to help her clean her record.
One thing about South Africans that we can all confess unapologetically is that when we unite behind an idea, we’re a pretty unstoppable nation.
by 