Mohalenyane Phakela
SOCIAL club, Team Shanghai, will be out to use entertainment for a good cause when they host a fiesta at Cappello’s at the Maseru Mall on 28 July this year.
The event will be used to collect sanitary towels which will be donated to vulnerable girls in the outskirts of Maseru.
Dubbed #PartyWithADifference, Team Shanghai has collaborated with Cappello Lesotho for the event. Revellers at the event will be required to deposit a packet of sanitary towels for entrance.
Performers at the event include Juvy Oa Lepimpara, DJs Kopper, Konsept, Gama, Trybz, Shaixstacy, Trojan VDH and Thizozo among others.
Formed earlier this year, Team Shanghai started off as a football club which played on Sundays against other amateur teams in what is popular known as the old-stock games.
It aimed to unite Maseru men but it grew and ended up attracting a diverse following including women.
Team Shanghai held a picnic at Marabeng on 30 June this year which accommodated people of different preferences.
According to one of the committee members, Rethabile Makhobole, they achieved their goal of uniting the youth through the picnic so they decided to move to helping the less fortunate.
“The picnic served its purpose of breaking boundaries that had been existing between the youth from different walks of life,” Makhobole said this week.
“In that spirit of unity, we thought of how we could impact on other people’s lives and different ideas were brought to the table. However, we chose something that would make it easier for everybody to reach out while also making a huge impact on the beneficiaries hence the idea of sanitary towels won.
“There are a lot of girls in our country who are forced to bunk school when they are on their period because they cannot afford to buy pads. We felt this would alleviate the plight by a significant number of girls.”
He said they would not collect money from revellers on the day but encouraged the patrons to bring one or more packets of sanitary towels.
“We will not collect any money that day but we ask patrons is to bring one or more packets of sanitary towels which will serve as the entrance charge. A packet is cheaper than a can of alcohol so we believe it would be a fair cost,” he said.
Makhobole said several organisations have also shown interest in the event among them Jhpiego, Scorpio Knight, Chillin’ in the City, M.A.D, Keys to the City, Black Affluence, DeeTee’s Lounge and DFDF.
“We are doing the little we can to raise awareness about some of the struggles faced by people in the country. This is not going to be a once off event and even if we do not hold other events in future, we will continue collecting sanitary towels to donate.
“We have noted that the greatest challenge exists in the outskirts of Maseru and that is where we will focus on. Although we started with sanitary towels, there are more projects which we will engage in aimed to help the less fortunate,” Makhobole said.
