Menstrual Cups Project

[Jen82]

Hi All

Happy Friday! Hopefully everyone is doing ok and not having too many woes today.

Hope it's ok but I have a friend (Stephanie Smith from the UK) who is volunteering (teaching) in rural Ngcizela, South Africa with a friend (Gayle Dyball from Australia).

I know we have our own battles here but I wanted to share this with you all and any support would be appreciated.

Stephanie and Gayle have become aware of the limited access to resources especially for female school children and their menstrual health management. They have researched what the women and girls in the community use during their menstruation - can they afford sanitary towels, are they using reusable products? Finding out that most of the women and girls are not able to afford sanitary towels and will use rags or whatever else they can use.

With the community they have implement a project for the girls to improve menstrual health management:-

The 'M' Projekt.

A pilot programme to distribute menstrual cups to girls in the community aged 13-19. A menstrual cup is a reusable product made from medical grade silicone. One cup can last a woman for up to ten years. We will be delivering 8 workshops that will educate the girls on their menstrual and reproductive health, menstrual history and we will also be teaching them how to make their own reusable sanitary towels.

Menstrual Hygiene Day! Saturday 28th May

Yes, that is right it is a day to raise awareness about menstruation worldwide.

The'M'Projekt will be celebrating/recognising this day by making reusable menstrual cloths with the community.

Gayle will lead the session and will teach the girls how to make their own reusable cloths so by the end of the session they would have all made their own. Mama Dyball will be facilitating a session in Australia where their family and friends will also be making menstrual cloths on Menstrual Hygiene day. The ladies are either going to keep the pads for themselves, donate them to a local female shelter or send them to the‘m’projekt, if feasible.

So … if anyone would want to co-ordinate their own day to make menstrual cloths to celebrate menstrual health day then please go and head and do so. It is actually really straightforward to make your own cloths and here is a really useful website for patterns and materials. As you will see from the website most of the materials can be sourced from old clothing/towels and so there doesn’t even need to be a cost to making your own cloths! If you can do the most basic stitch and have some old towels then give it a go. It would also be a great way to have a woman’s night in and celebrate this cycle that can go unrecognised and is generally tabooed.

If anyone has any questions about the‘m’projekt generally, or Menstrual Hygiene day specifically then please email them at [e-mail]. They would love to hear about how you want to get involved and see any pictures if people decide to make their own cloths.

They would also really appreciate any support to the project including online donations crowdfunding.justgiving.com...

Thank you so much for your help. It really would mean a lot to be able to make this a success, sincerely, Stephanie and Gayle

Thanks everybody and happy weekend

Jen