In October 2018, I moved back to Australia and right before I hugged my mom goodbye, she said, "Here's an issue for you to look into: period poverty." This turned into something greater than I ever imagined.
I began by researching period poverty in areas such as Nepal, India, the UK yet, I ran into the issue of only finding information that was in regards to developing countries other than the UK. Since I was living in Australia, I wanted to know that statistics in this country as this is where I was living and where I believed that I could make an impact. But when you research period poverty in Australia, you get almost no statistics except for that is possibly an issue but no concrete data analysis had been done. There is also an organisation that I recently discovered called Share The Dignity that does amazing work in this field and several others. But I began getting quite frustrated and started contacting government entities, UN Women, and large women non-profits. To my surprise, many of the answers came back as something like,
"No, we don't."
"I don't know if there is any research on this at all but I am very interested in this topic."
Or to my surprise from the Australian Department of Health,
"We are not aware of any research on this topic.
Regards,
[.....] Assistant Director"
To be frank, I was astounded that the Department of Health had absolutely no research on this topic as it was a driving issue in every single country no matter whether it was labeled developed or developing. The fact that the Assistant Director didn't even think that it was a problem even made me more concerned. I was angry and I was becoming passionate quickly.
I went from maybe starting a non-profit providing supplies to girls and women, to starting a business that would empower these women in this situations to have a source of income and provide for themselves, to creating my own menstrual product business and selling them. My mind was rambling and I couldn't stick to a topic until I decided that I was going to begin reading. READING. READING. READING. And more READING. This is because I knew the public health side of period poverty but I didn't know the medical side of things. I didn't know anything about menstrual cycles, reproductive health issues, how hormones impact a women's physical and mental heath. Like most women in the world today, I was given the birth control pill when I was in 8th grade for painful cramps and that was the end to my sex education. I was ignorant and wanted to tackle this issue with as much knowledge as possible.
The first book I ever read was Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Wescher (by the way, she is an amazing human being and is so kind) which taught me about the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM). You may think of this as the traditional rhythm method that isn't very successful but it is different. But that is for another blog post that I can't wait to discuss. Moving forward, this book changed my life. Not only because I learned about natural fertility which I now do for myself, I became an advocate for my own health. I discovered the issues of ovarian cysts, endometriosis and fibroids which I have now been diagnosed with all 3. After reading these topics in the books, I continued reading and finding out about the impact of birth control and external toxins that build up in our body causing all of these issues that no one wants to address. Women's health is one of the last issues addressed in many countries including the United States (aka the only developed country in the world with a rising maternal mortality rate and no federal law about maternity leave). I finally found a doctor back home that was willing to listen to me and investigate and I am eternally grateful. I have also decided that I will be attending naturopathic medical school or getting a masters physician assistant studies, I haven't decided as I am still in the midst of it all. But I want to focus on women's fertility and the issues that girls and women face due to simply having a uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries. Yes, I am still passionate about period poverty and yes, I will definitely be doing something with this in the future. But I have decided for me I want to be educated as much as I can and help where I'm needed.
As I continue to read books, listen to podcasts, listen to knowledgable women and deal with my own health issues Moonli will be a place for all of us girls and women to mend. You can come here to vent, or you can come here to read articles on menstrual cycles, women's rights issues, women that are making a difference in these areas and sustainability and eco-friendly living.
I hope we all find something here that we can benefit from. I hope that we can all help and support each other. I hope my shared knowledge brings something to you.
Thanks for visiting ladies.
Be Brave. Be Bold. Be Beastly.
Xoxo,
Moonli
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