Florence Akara
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We, as societies, cannot succeed when half of us are being held back!

Guest post by Júlia & Antonio, Founders of Periodo Solidario

Here’s to education, and to making sure that every girl has a voice and can stand for herself.

 

At Periodo Solidario we are fully aware of the struggle that millions of women and girls face around the world (in our own society and also in developing countries) as a consequence of the lack of menstrual hygiene products and education.

 

Periodo Solidario was born under the purpose that all women and girls should have the right to a healthy and positive relationship with their bodies and direct access to menstrual hygiene products to live as healthy as possible. We are a humble small NGO that tries to do as much as possible with the limited resources we have, and we dream big.

The Periodo Solidario Faircup. Proceeds are donated to Femme International.

Taking this idea as a starting point, we created this feminist project because, from our position, it was obvious we needed to do something about it. We started doing research and concluded how overpriced the menstrual cups are in Europe. This gave us the opportunity to think about how we could create a high-quality product that was accessible to everyone and helped the NGO gather funds to make a life change to those girls that most needed it. After months of financial planning, legal struggles and a lot of designing we achieved our objective and launched FairCup.

We then did vast research on which actions could help the most, this urgent need became more visible. We also understood the incredible potential that economic resources have on these projects that work with millions of girls in an interdisciplinary way. After discussing all the possible actions, we decided we wanted to use 100% of the NGO’s profits to help create the positive impact we were looking for.

We searched for an organization that helps women, acts according to the interests of the local communities and studies its impact rigorously. That’s why we chose Femme International as the first NGO we wanted to support. Their 7-year work on more than 11.000 girls across Kenya and Tanzania and the benefits found on the Twaweza project made us realize we had met an organization that clearly is as passionate as we are about changing people’s lives.

Florence Akara, pitching the case for economic and environmental friendly menstrual products in East Africa.

We had the first conversation one year ago with Florence Akara, the managing director at Femme. Her interest in our project and her motivation in the ones she was running made clear that Femme International would be a good partner for Periodo Solidario. At the same time, we were introduced to Rachael Ouko, the Nairobi office manager, who explained her experience at Femme and shared her will to break down the stigma and normalize the natural process that is the menstrual cycle.

We have since then been collaborating with Femme International while working to sell more menstrual cups, gather resources and make a real change. We also believe that sending our profits to Femme is the best idea to support the local communities. Given we advocate for sustainable menstruation products and we aim to reduce as much as possible our CO2 emissions (due to the means of transportation), we decided to transfer our donations instead of physically sending our product to Africa.

Femme beneficiaries with their workbook and Femme Kit complete with a menstrual product of their choice.

Moreover, by giving more Femme Kits, we are encouraging women to be able to share different knowledge by providing an open and secure space to engage in discussions about menstrual health and hygiene and other topics that tend to be socially controversial in most societies. At the same time, we have reached out to a lot of girls by developing an active webpage and Instagram account where we publish educational information, tips on how to use the cup, news, and suggestions on how to deconstruct social prejudices and stigmas surrounding women’s body.”

We are very grateful to be a part of this amazing association. Our most deep respect for the amazing people that work to ensure every girl can meet her rights and access to the same opportunities as men do.

We cannot wait to share this journey with Femme and keep working together to end #periodpoverty!

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Florence Akara
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The “othering” of homeless women and girls is usually naturalized, perpetuating their marginalisation.

Guest post by inspiring superwoman, Elizabeth K. Gimba from “Go with the Flow, Period!”

I am Elizabeth K Gimba from Kenya/South Sudan and currently reside in New York, USA where I am pursuing a major in Neuroscience and minors in French and German. There is an impressive latitude of things I am passionate about; menstrual poverty and its alleviation is one of them.

Last year, I was privileged to be a grant recipient while studying in Freiburg, Germany through one of my projects “Go with the Flow, Period!” on sustainable menstrual cups for homeless women and girls in Nairobi, Kenya. I partnered with Femme International, an organisation that persistently champions for menstrual rights in different regions around Eastern Africa. The project’s aim was to facilitate menstrual education and distribution of sustainable menstrual cups to homeless women and girls in the streets of Nairobi, Kenya and that is exactly what Femme International, and I spent the June of 2019 doing.

We used Twaweza Program workbooks courtesy of Femme International in both English and Swahili to ensure an optimum comprehension of what we would be training the women and girls. The workbooks covered vital topics on the female reproductive system, puberty, personal hygiene, menstruation and the menstrual cycle, managing and tracking periods, Pre-Menstrual Syndrome (PMS) and how to manage it, problems associated with menstruation, Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs), Reproductive Tract Infections (RTIs), reusable pads, menstrual cups and more.

Beneficiaries of the project funded by Elizabeth Gimba at a shelter in Mlango Kubwa,Nairobi, where an NGO called Joy Divine is helping to house and feed street youth.

I was inspired to carry out the project in the streets because the “othering” of homeless women and girls is usually naturalized thus further perpetuating their marginalisation. This meant that my aim was not only to confront the daily silent necessities of period poverty but to also restore the dignity that all women and girls on the streets rightfully deserved.

Moreover, the project enables us to learn more about the life of menstruating, homeless women and girls through emic perspectives and experiences. Distributing menstrual cups which could last the women a period of up to ten years was one of their inflection points. For most women and girls, it was their first time learning about menstrual cups and this made both our experience and theirs more meaningful. Additionally, as the menstrual cups came in Femme kits we provided the women and girls with bars of soap and at least a pair of underwear each to allow for proper sanitation during their periods.

In essence, the immediate community was very open to supporting our movement and mission and at some point also encouraged their younger daughters to join in the training we gave in order to learn more about menstrual education. This shaped to some extent their perception of menstruation in general and certainly clarified that menstruation is not a shameful phenomenon but rather something natural that they should all embrace and be proud of.

Elizabeth Gimba is the founder of “Go with the flow, Period!” and a young educationist currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in Neuroscience with French and German minors. 

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Sabrina

Groove: Reproductive Health Education for All

I remember so clearly my first day back at school after I started my very first period. I was incredibly uncomfortable with my “new” body, so I wore the baggiest clothing I could find in my closet. I hated wearing a pad (it made me feel like a baby wearing a diaper), and I wasn’t quite sure how often I should change it. I couldn’t concentrate in class, and I was convinced that the rest of my classmates would somehow figure out that I had gotten my period (they didn’t).

I knew very little about periods or why women get them. I remember my mom talking to me about them—how they are a “normal” part of becoming a woman. But aside from the fact that having my period meant that I could now have babies (which was the last thing on my mind as an 11-year-old-girl), the only things I really knew about my period were that it caused me a lot of pain and embarrassment. Starting my period definitely didn’t feel the way that I had always imagined becoming a woman would feel. And, unfortunately, my experience is not an isolated one.

PictureGroove Co-Founders

My first experience with menstruation left a sour taste in my mouth. I grew up thinking that my body was my enemy. On top of that, society made me feel as though I needed to do everything in my power to hide the fact that I was bleeding each month. As a result, I struggled all throughout adolescence with low self-confidence, poor self-esteem, and a negative body image. And, like many other girls and women, these issues ended up following me into my adult life.

It wasn’t until I was well into my twenties that I learned how the menstrual cycle actually works, and it happened entirely by accident. But once I got sucked in, there was no going back. I completely immersed myself in learning about female sex hormones hormones, how those hormones interact to create the menstrual cycle, how the menstrual cycle is linked to reproductive and hormonal health, how my lifestyle can affect the regularity (or irregularity) of my cycles, and how tracking physical symptoms like basal body temperature and cervical fluid secretions can support good bodily health. With all of this information, I finally felt a connection with my body that my teenage years had been lacking. I had finally found the missing puzzle piece, and it brought with it a feeling of self-confidence that I had never experienced. I immediately knew it was my purpose to help other women discover that very same confidence.

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I started my company, Groove, as a vessel to carry out my mission. I want to help girls and women feel a sense of agency when it comes to their reproductive health, and I want to help break down the stigmas surrounding sex and menstruation. That’s why we built the Groove – Period & Fertility Tracker app and why we provide free reproductive health information on our website. It’s also why we have several other amazing projects in the works. No woman deserves to be deprived of information that has the power to transform the way she thinks about her body. I want to prevent others from feeling way I once did about my period: confused, ashamed, scared, and embarrassed.

Education is the foundation of Groove, because I know first-hand the life-altering effects it can provide. Our mission is to empower women with knowledge about their menstrual cycles so that they can spend their time worry about things in life that really matter—doing well in school, keeping their bodies healthy, following their dreams, and changing the world around them for the better—and not worrying about a potential pregnancy, what’s going on inside their bodies, whether their cycles are normal and healthy, and whether they can attend school.

PictureScreenshots from the Ready to Groove App! 10% of all sales of the app will be donated to the Feminine Health Management Program.

We’ve helped tens of thousands of women already, but it’s important to me that we’re always asking ourselves “What else can we be doing to help?” I truly believe that education is a fundamental human right, and I want the company I’ve built to fully embody that belief in everything we do. It simply wouldn’t feel right not to donate a portion of Groove’s hard-earned money to help support causes that change the lives of girls and women across the globe. That’s why partnering with Femme International feels like the perfect next step in our journey as an organization.

I’m excited to witness Groove’s partnership with Femme develop, and I’m humbled by the impact that our donations can make in women’s lives. No girl should ever have to give up her education because of her body, and we’re honored for the chance to play a small part in helping Femme eliminate that decision from the lives of girls in East Africa.

Jennifer Aldoretta is the cofounder and CEO of Groove, an Austin-based women’s health company and makers of the Groove – Period & Fertility Tracker app for iPhone. She is a menstrual health expert and author who is passionate about the intersection of technology and women’s health.

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