Days for Girls
Everyone with their new kits at the second meeting.
Days for Girls is an organization that provides opportunities for groups to sew and assemble reusable feminine hygiene kits. They also provide education and training on topics such as feminine hygiene, menstrual cycles, sexual intercourse, self defense, and human trafficking. In many areas around the world, including regions of Nepal, menstruating is a taboo subject. Girls and women that are menstruating are often seen as unclean and hidden away during this time each month. Girls who don’t have access to changing pads or feminine products at school sometimes choose to stay home, causing them to miss portions of school every month. Due to this, many girls end up dropping out because they get behind in school work.
Open World Cause came across the organization called Days for Girls and saw huge potential in supplying kits to the Dang community (where Tri Ka school is) when we visited. We made it to Tri Ka with close to 100 kits to share with parents of the students and any friends or family they brought to the meetings we held. The Days for Girls meeting took place directly after the parent meeting we held introducing the parents to what our team does at Tri Ka school.
DfG kits were sewn by A Day for Girls - La Crosse Chapter/organizer Shannon and A Day for Girls - Colorado Springs/ organizer Marcia. A huge thanks!
Women with their new DfG kits!
The 2 meetings we held exceeded our expectations. Women continued to pile in the warm and sticky classroom with curious eyes and fleeting smiles. Professor Melissa Collum led the meeting which consisted of education in women’s health, translated by grade 1 teacher, Anjali. Anjali did a wonderful job talking about hard topics, especially in front of so many people. We were very grateful for her dual language skills and the ability to work with her on this trip. We gave out around 44 kits the first meeting and around 30 kits the second meeting. After the meeting we called each woman up by the roster and allowed her to pick a kit based on size of underwear. Each woman got one kit.
Perhaps the greatest thing about the two Days for Girls meetings was the laughter and camaraderie. Each woman seemed genuinely excited to receive a kit, and grateful for the opportunity to come. A handful of women even took videos on their phones of the educational presentation.
By starting these conversations in the community, we hope that menstrual health and feminine hygiene becomes an easier topic for women to navigate. We also want to reinforce, supported by the Days for Girls curriculum, that women are strong and wonderful in many ways. Women’s bodies are capable of amazing things and that is something to protect and take care of.