A basic right. Right?
Truth be told, periods are sometimes not the simple natural occurrence the female body encounters every month, but cause devastating effects to our environment and to many women around the world.
As part of Grace & Green’s social impact work, we help support some amazing organisations that address acute environmental and social issues connected with periods. Around the world woman and young girls lead a life deprived from basic dignity. We aim to help support NGOs that support vulnerable people where having period is much harder than it should be
One of the organisations we are proud to be involved in is the Unmentionables, who provides forcibly displaced individuals and communities around the world with safe and consistent access to sexual and reproductive health education, services, protection, and empowerment programs, providing them the knowledge, tools, and skills to make well-informed decisions for their futures.
Meet Soheila
Soheila is 26 years old and a mother of 3. She was married at age 13, had her first child at age 14, and experienced significant domestic abuse from her in-laws and husband while in Afghanistan. She always wanted to be a teacher, but due to restrictive laws in Afghanistan, she was not able to pursue her dream. Today, she is our most passionate Community Educator, and feels she has achieved her dream of becoming a teacher with The Unmentionables.
UnExposed.
With the recent media coverage on the refugee crisis worldwide, there has been a distinct lack of stories and photos coming from refugees themselves. Grace & Green were proud to support the work of the Unmentionables UnExposed programme, an in-depth photography education and mentoring, the empowerment program, UnExposed, which aims to give young refugees the opportunity and tools needed to tell their stories through the art of photography. Grace & Green helped sponsor the female refugee Khatereh to take part part in the very first UnExposed class. After leaving Greece, she’s taken what she’s learned with her and has continued doing photography.
“In my opinion, capturing the beautiful moments can be very enjoyable, when you are a photographer, you pay more attention to the details and beauties around you, such as light, darkness, colors, people and even the buildings seem more interesting to you. Thus I think photography is like music, there are no linguistic or cultural barrier. We can communicate with the whole world.”
Want to help?
There are so many ways to get involved and help the Unmentionables. Volunteer, or apply for an internship set up a fundraising page, or donate. For those who don’t have a lot of time or money but still want to help, you can also become a Social Ambassador is an easy way to make a difference by spreading the word about their amazing work.
