MAY 28 and JUNE 1

MENSTRUAL CUPS

Nice coverage by the BBC.  

MENSTRUAL HYGIENE DAY

If you've been reading this blog, you probably know quite well that today is Menstrual Hygiene Day.  Around the world, volunteers worked to help eliminate period stigma and provide girls and women with solutions to managing their periods.  At our Springfield Days for Girls space on 5th Street, about a dozen wonderful volunteers joined in assembling over half of the 500 kits we're putting together for refugees in Lebanon, Syria and Palestine.  We enjoyed delicious food, fun conversations and a great feeling of accomplishment.  Thanks to you all!

Today is Menstrual Hygiene Day! Celebrate by ensuring EVERY single girl has access to safe menstrual care and education. No more shame. No more missed school. Let’s create a better world for women. 🌼 🌺 🌸

CAN YOU JOIN US SATURDAY?

Putting all those kits together today made a serious dent in our supplies, so when we meet again on Saturday, June 1, we've got a lot of tasks needing doing.  If you're a sewing or serging ace, please bring your serger or sewing machine and basic sewing supplies (I do have a few sewing machines you can borrow).  We're having a hard time keeping our sewing and serging apace with all the supportive tasks performed by our prolific non-sewers. 

We'll be at Our Sewing Room from 10 am until just after 4 pm.  OSR has a fridge and microwave available for our use.  Parking on street is limited to 2 hours and monitored, but it's ok to park in the bank lot across the street.  In addition, the library/city hall lots aren't limited on weekends.  AND, not related to parking, (enabler alert), all clothing is half-price on the first weekend of each month at the Hearts for Hospice thrift shop next door.

PLEASE let me know if you are able to come Saturday.

AND, if you've signed up for emails and aren't getting my reminders, maybe yours is one of the ones that bounce each month.  Please supply your email address again next time you join us if you didn't get a reminder today.

RENT

THE RENT YOU PAY

 “Service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on this earth,” said Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to the U.S. Congress.  My heartfelt thanks to our stupendous volunteers for choosing our Days for Girls Chapter to receive your rent payments!  

WANT TO ASSEMBLE SOME KITS?

As mentioned in earlier posts, May 28th is Menstrual Hygiene Day.  Let's celebrate by putting together some of the kits that will go to refugees in Lebanon, Syria and Palestine this fall.  No sewing or serging skills needed for this, and it's fun to see how attractive the kits are when all the colorful components are neatly packed in them.

Afterwards, anybody who wants to sew or serge can stay for that.  If you are one of our wonderful sergers, please bring your own machine.  Sewers, bring your machine or use one of mine.  I think I have about 10 chairs.  We'll meet in our rented Days for Girls rooms at the back of the Our Sewing Room building. 10:00am at 120 5th Street.   Enter on 5th Street.   Please let me know if you plan to come.

If this doesn't work for you, don't worry.  We'll have our regular first-Saturday workday just 4 days later on June 1st in Our Sewing Room.  

TIMELY VIDEO

I just received a link to this excellent video of a distribution to refugees in Lebanon.  Please watch and SHARE! 

AND JUST IN--THIS TIMELY POST!

Busy day for things to share with you!  Days for Girls is featured on the front page of Menstrual Hygiene Day's website!

INCONCEIVABLE

Posted elsewhere: "The May 2019 Scientific American has 5 different articles dealing with menstruation, fertility, and female reproductive health. It's well written and even includes the history of how people have viewed menstruation. They mention that very little research is being done in this area, in part because it's still a taboo subject. Lots of money is available for erectile dysfunction, but the funding is much harder to find for menstrual health issues." 

Looks interesting.  This issue is available online for a fee, or free at your public library.

Scientific American

April 16 at 8:29 AM

An assault on women's reproductive health is still a force in much of the world, and scientists often struggle to balance research and public education amid the onslaught of political resistance. This Special Report from our May issue explores what we don’t know, why we don’t know it, and where we go from here: http://bit.ly/2KHuasv

MORE ABOUT CHHAUPADI IN RURAL WESTERN NEPAL

Despite the law banning the forced use of menstrual huts, here's why no one's been charged and the practice continues.

EGYPT

Egypt has eased some restrictions on menstruating girls and women. Read how things a changing with the younger generation.

MILLIONAIRES

"If wealth was the inevitable result of hard work and enterprise, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire"
― George Monbiot

IT'S SPRING!

SUPPORTING OUR ENTERPRISES

Days for Girls has 108 Enterprises in 15 Third World countries, and more become certified every year!  The people who work in them have received training in running a business, making kits and handling education and distributions. They are experienced, speak the local language, know the culture and know the material. Groups wanting to take kits to a location can request them from teams and chapters here, and check suitcases full of kits to take with them, OR they can order and purchase them from a local enterprise, supporting the local women.  If requesting from a team or chapter, a donation is appropriate--each kit contains $10-$12 of materials.  Prices from Enterprises may vary from country to country, but I believe they typically are less than the raw materials cost us!

Whether the kits come from here or the country where they will be distributed, having an Enterprise leader handle the required education piece is highly recommended, and considered more effective than us doing it with a translator.  They request reimbursement for time, travel and any meals during that time.  Quite a bargain!

We've helped a couple of Enterprises by packing suitcases of supplies for friends to take with them on travel to an area where there is a registered Enterprise.  Some things are easier to find here (flannel in darker, busy prints, rotary supplies, and PUL for example) and our support/donations help them keep their expenses low.

Enterprises are not only available to provide many kits for a large distribution, but they also can sell the individual components to local girls and women, who often buy them as they save up enough money for a shield, a liner, piece by piece.  In countries where the average annual income is just a few thousand, a whole kit is expensive.

Here is a bit more information on DFG Enterprises.  Click the links too.

These are photos of a distribution by Bella, who leads an Enterprise in Ghana.

Days for Girls has found that when distributing DfG Kits, including one key phrase during the education portion makes the difference between that distribution supporting or negatively affecting the local Enterprise. This special phrase (located on the back of the AWH Flipchart) says:

“These DfG Kits cost $10 (USD) each. However, today you are part of a sponsored leadership [pilot] for your community. You get to let others know how they worked. Are you willing to answer a few [Monitoring and Evaluation] questions for us?”

Why is this phrase so important? When this sentence is given, a dollar value is attached to their DfG Kit. This prepares the way for any Enterprises that currently exist or that will be started in that community in the future. “Free DfG Kits” create an expectation of future handouts, whereas “Sponsored DfG Kits” in exchange for their willingness to test this new product and share feedback in their community, creates a market within which an Enterprise will thrive.

OUR FIRST-SATURDAY-IN-MAY WORK CREW

I didn't get around to sending our email reminders until the day before our May 4th Saturday workday, so maybe that's why we had a smaller-than-usual group. But, boy, did they accomplish a lot!

If you don't want to miss out, please mark your calendars in advance for our workdays on the first Saturday of each month.  Over the years, we've only had to cancel at the last minute once or twice, because of winter weather conditions.  Workday information is always on this blog, and I would also send out an email to our list if we did have to cancel/change a date.

And please check this blog regularly for information updates.

So, here are some of our May 4th volunteers!

WOMEN'S SYMPOSIUM

On May 9, I had an information table at The Women's Symposium, sponsored by Lions Clubs in our area.  The focus of the gathering was Paying it Forward by Volunteering.

If you know of or belong to a group that would like a speaker or has a space for an information table or booth at an event, please let me know.  I can give a pretty complete presentation of the issue and Days for Girls' solutions in about half an hour or so.  Many of our volunteers and donations are a result of contacts made at places where I spoke or had an information table.

UPCOMING WORKDAYS

May 28th is International Menstrual Hygiene Day (see earlier posts for info.).  Since we will be sending lots of kits to refugees in Lebanon, Syria and Palestine this fall, we'll celebrate MHD by assembling some of them that day.  No sewing skills needed for this, as we stand along a table and pack the Ziplocs, assembly-line fashion.  You're welcome to stay and work on components afterwards.  We'll meet at 10:00 a.m. at 120 5th Street (NOT at Our Sewing Room!)

A few days later, June 1st, we'll have our regular First Saturday workday at Our Sewing Room.

If you're planning to come to either or both, please let me know!

JOIN US MAY 28TH

REFUGEE PROJECT

Days for Girls chapters, teams and volunteers are joining forces to make a major impact on the lives of girls and women living in refugee camps.  We'll start with 11,000 kits to refugees in Lebanon this fall, and then 11,000 each to those in Syria and Palestine.

Here's the info from HQ:

Chapters & Teams Refugee Project: Lebanon

Last month, we announced a new project for Chapters and Teams. In November 2019, in honor of Days for Girls’ 11th birthday, we will distribute 11,000 DfG Kits to refugee women and girls in three locations, totaling 33,000. We're excited to share more details about this project, including the first distribution location...  Lebanon!  There are currently 1-1.5 million refugees in Lebanon. Approximately 65% are women and girls. The majority of these refugees are Syrians and Palestinians living in formal and informal refugee camps or communities. The UNHCR reports, "In Lebanon, life is a daily struggle for more than a million... refugees, who have little or no financial resources. Around 70 percent live below the poverty line."  Please follow these links for more information on Syrian and Palestinian refugees. Refugees in Lebanon continue to have multiple humanitarian needs. One of these important but often overlooked needs is the considerable challenge refugee women and girls face with menstrual hygiene management. DfG Lebanon Country Coordinator Khayrieh says, "Most refugees can't afford pads because they need to spend what little money they have on food and medicine. They use old white cloths or old t-shirts instead, but the problem is they are too shy to wash this and hang it out to dry. This isn't safe for their health. DfG Kits provide a wonderful alternative to this as they are multicolored, don't look like pads and they are safe to use! The AWH education is just as important because it teaches them information that most of them don't already know. It makes them more relaxed and confident and it breaks down taboos and stigmas. It has a lasting impact because they can pass the information on to their daughters, who will then pass it down to their daughters." Local Leaders from 3 DfG Enterprises in Lebanon have rallied to address refugee women and girls access to menstrual health supplies and education, however, the need is immense. Local leaders have reported on the tremendous need for more DfG Kits and health education in refugee settings and invited Chapters and Teams to walk alongside them to meet this need.  In addition to responding to this with donated Kits, we plan to purchase Kits from the local Enterprises, and will hire local leaders to teach the DfG Health Education courses. The local leaders in Lebanon are excited to conduct these distributions in November! Shipping, Transport, & more Help us FUNdraise for this important cause! We are raising funds to help with shipping, logistics, transport, purchasing DfG Kits from local Enterprises, hiring local AWH trainers to teach DfG Health Education, and more!  Click HERE if you'd like to donate to help with those expenses. OUR EUGENE/SPRINGFIELD CHAPTER WILL HELP! Last year we sent components for refugee kits to the DFG group in Crete, and postage cost around $100, if I remember correctly.  This is wonderful, being able to help the refugee populations in these heartbreaking conditions with our headquarters handling the financial details and logistics of transporting and distributing the kits--we can focus on making those components! Refugee camp in Greece DFG's multicolored kits would blend in with other laundry MAY 28TH--LET'S ASSEMBLE SOME KITS! We can put together a few hundred complete kits with the supplies we currently have on hand, and of course each month we make more. Since May 28 is International Menstrual Hygiene Day, let's get together to assemble kits that morning.  And for those interested, work on making more components afterwards.  More details coming . . . . Refugee camp in Lebanon Another

It's May!

MAY WORKDAY

We'll be meeting at Our Sewing Room on Saturday, May 4th, from 10am to around 4 pm.   Come any time, stay as long as works for your schedule.  We especially need a lot of experienced folks on sergers and sewing machines this month.  If that sounds like you, please check out your machine before you leave home--make sure it's running happily, and you have all the necessities that go with it.  I have lots of thread--it helps if you bring your own scissors and maybe seam ripper.  I do have a few sewing machines you can use if yours isn't portable.  Of course, there are non-sewing tasks too.  Parking is available at the bank lot across Main Street, as well as the lots north and south of the library--no limit on Saturdays.  Street parking is limited to 2 hours, until you get almost to C Street. 

MAY 28TH

You may remember from previous years that May 28th is Menstrual Hygiene Day--the date was chosen for symbolic reason--the average length of a period is 5 days, and a typical cycle lasts 28 days.  

So, 5-28.  Stay tuned--we may have something special that day.  

According to Wikipedia, Menstrual Hygiene Day is an annual awareness day on May 28 to highlight the importance of good menstrual hygiene management. It was initiated by the German-based NGO WASH United in 2014 and aims to benefit women and girls worldwide.

MENSTRUAL EQUITY

On March 26, Congresswoman Meng introduced H.R. 1882, the "Menstrual Equity for All Act of 2019." The bill would provide feminine hygiene supplies to women in prisons and homeless shelters, classify feminine hygiene products as health supplies, enabling them to be bought with pretax dollars (flexible spending accounts). It would also require the federal government and other large employers to provide supplies for their employees.

The cost of this program is small relative to the potential benefit: reduced absenteeism from school and work, greater success in school, and reduced risk of infections.

Does your representative in Congress support this bill?
If not, then write to your Congressperson urging them to support this bill!  Here's where to contact Peter DeFazio.  I did.            

PERIOD.ORG

This advocacy group, with chapters around the country, has its roots in Portland.  More people working for menstrual equity!  Check out their website and get on their email list.

VIDEOS

Are you aware that Days for Girls International has many videos available to view on their website?  On their website, click on ABOUT US, then VIDEOS will pop up under that.

FEEDBACK FROM LAOS

I  want to share this feedback from women and girls in Laos who previously received DFG kits.

DfG Luang Prabang Laos local leaders recently conducted surveys to gather feedback from 155 women and girls who had previously received DfG Kits and health education. One woman shared, "In the past, we didn't have anything to use when we had our period, sometimes not even underwear. It wasn't comfortable. We couldn't work hard when we had our periods. Now we can carry bamboo, work hard, and go anywhere! We're very happy."  We are pleased to share the results, highlighting the incredible impact DfG Kits and education have in the lives of women and girls: Do you currently use your DfG Kit? 96% said yes. *Those that said no, weren't menstruating largely due to recent childbirth. Do you feel embarrassed/shame during menstruation? 74% stated that since receiving DfG education, they no longer felt ashamed or embarrassed by their menstruation. *The remaining 26% said they felt shyness rather than shame or embarrassment. How easy or difficult was it to manage your menstruation before receiving a DfG Kit? How easy or difficult is it to manage your menstruation now with a DfG Kit? 99% stated that in the past having their period was very difficult, but that since receiving a Kit, having their period was either easy or very easy. Overall, how satisfied are you with your DfG Kit? 100% said that they are happy or very happy. Are there activities you CAN do now that you couldn't do before you had a DfG Kit? 99% said yes. Many of them gave examples such as going to school, working on the farm, attending weddings, sitting down/standing up, and dancing. The women and girls also enthusiastically shared stories and examples about the changes in their lives since receiving a DfG Kit and education. One woman states, "Before, I  didn't want to even sit down, but now I can do anything! I can even go to Nam Bak and  back!" (a 6-hour journey on the back of a truck or motorbike on mountainous, rocky paths.) A teenage girl excitedly stated, "I can't wait to have my period now!", showing how DfG Kits and education can break stigmas and help turn menstruation into something positive and natural for girls and women all over the world!