Today is for periods! Yes, that’s right, it’s Menstrual Hygiene Day.
Why today?! Because the average cycle length is 28 days and the average length of a period is 5 days! Somebody really thought about it!
We’re using this day to highlight just how important the work towards period equity and addressing period poverty is. It’s a big deal!
For most of us, periods are a bit of an annoying occurrence. And for some of us, they can be extremely painful. It can be a relief to get your period and it can also be a moment of grief or signifying loss. Whatever your situation, we hope you take care of yourself and those around you who bleed.
But for the majority of the world, a period isn’t just an annoying situation. It can be a big obstacle or even lead to major health issues. There are taboos, social norms, and a lack of access to products and education to contend with. Sometimes it’s a combination of all these things that gets in the way of good period health care.
We started the Reemi journey back in Delhi, with a group called Goonj. They told us a story of a woman using old cloth with bit of metal on it (perhaps a button or a clasp) and she ended up contracting tetanus and passing away. It's not an uncommon story, and we've seen so many more issues that have led to menstrual related deaths. It's not 'just a thing that happens to women’. Periods and period care are often overlooked, but the consequences can be significant.
We’ve been in a really busy season. Heads down, working hard! Our silence is not because for lack of doing things, rather because we are kinda maxed out. We're mid-research unpacking a lot of these obstacles, so we know how we can best support the people we serve. Next year, we’ll continue researching, but we'll also start to implement the learnings we've been meticulously collecting over the years.
We can't wait to share more about what we’re doing, and bring you with us on this epic road. But today, as the dedicated day to periods - why don't you take a look at some other orgs doing really cool mahi, check in with a pal you know has a hard time on their period or even give a $ towards Reemi.
Here are some of our favourite orgs doing incredible things in this space.
- Wa Collective (NZ)
- The Period Place (NZ)
- Goonj (India)
- Bloody Good Period (UK)
- Dignity (NZ)
- Zubin Foundation (HK)
Thank you (!!) for being such champions of our work. Thanks for being the community we need to keep going.
