There’s loads going on in the world at the moment you need only look at your facebook or any other social media feed, the front page of any paper or the nightly news. Everyone is effected by the wordly going’s on. Let’s face it, we live in a pretty diverse and at times fucked up place. There’s no sugar coating it. It is what it is and there are sides and parts of humanity which aren’t worth a look in or mention.
On the other side of all that bad, depressing and horrible shit happening in the world there are good people out there, and people doing great things. Sometimes people get so swept up in what the media feeds us as a priority, that we forget about what things are happening locally in our own backyard and that rather than being a keyboard warrior, we’ve an opportunity to good and help people that are in need.
We’re going to talk periods for a minute, and menstruation and well if the idea grosses you out then GTFO. If you’re a chick you get them, if you’re a guy your wife, mother, lover, BFF or someone in your life suffers from them. They’re annoying, messy and part of our human make up and trust us no one enjoys them. Do you think we like being an emotional wreck, that we enjoy the binge of chocolate and chips together and also the constant paranoia of either coughing or sneezing might just shoot a tampon across the room. That you avoid your best knickers and also steer away from wearing white. Yes it happens, yes most people don’t like to talk about it and yes you can see all these women getting crazy online because of the tampon taxes.
I’m not interested in any of that, but more so this cool and interesting project that popped up a few weeks ago on my feed. It’s about helping those women that are more less advantaged, homeless or cant afford the basics when it comes to basic sanitation and access to sanitary products. They’re expensive and I can only imagine these ladies and girls have enough going on without the stress or hassles of hygiene.
So there’s this awesome organisation called the Sydney Period Project who are all about helping those that need goods donated when mother nature calls and decides it’s that time of the month.
Imagine the humiliation, pain and fear that women experience when they’re sleeping rough and their period arrives. They often have nothing. Imagine having to ask a stranger for sanitary products, even if that stranger is there to help
Their aim is to find people to sponsor homeless woman though their period. Their idea is that each time you get your period it’s your reminder to donate one pack of sanitary products to the Sydney Period Project, or $5 and we will purchase them on your behalf. You can sponsor as a one off only, or as many times as you like. They will not send reminders or ask you where your pack is. The idea is that your own period is your reminder that it’s time to send a pack in.
They put them together into cute packs, provide to women’s centers and to any organisation that needs assistance and access to these products.
There was a thing circulating on the net, where it suggested if you’ve an old handbag that you put in some essential items a women would appreciate and that you provide that to them. The agency has been overwhelmed with support with this to distribute, and they’re asking that at Christmas time there is no funding or allocation to provide those women who are homeless or in need with gifts. Not everyone is a junkie or drug addict, and I’ve met a number of people in my local Kings Cross area who when I’ve taken the time to speak to them took to living on the streets for a number of reasons – victim of domestic violence, mental health and a nervous breakdown, as well as having to care for their terminally ill family and then by not working they lost their homes and then family.
They’re rather asking that if you want to donate, then pull out your old handbags – ones that you’d still use and aren’t completely crass and fill them with items you and I take for granted but that someone might like and will enjoy that time of the year. You can read more about it here on their facebook page. This is Australia wide too, so get in touch with similar agencies in your local areas.
We’re mostly an office full of women here at Creative Little Soul, and this is why we’re sharing this post with you, but more so it’s nice to help people that are less fortunate and that we often forget that something we bitch or complain about tax on, isn’t even a priority or accessible for other people.
I’d much rather this year, if you were intending a gift for our team or office, you partook in something like this and assisted those that need it! Which is a great cause, project and something we’ll be involved in and assisting with moving forward too with the team at Creative Little Soul, having donated our time, services and skills to for free.