Lunapads Blog

A Diva’s Guide to Getting Your Period is the newest book by menstruation expert DeAnna L’am.  Who better to hear it from first than one of the world’s leading experts and pioneers of menstrual empowerment?  This is her first book written for teens and is appealing as it is quite a quick read full of beautiful images by Jessica of Vulva Love Lovely.

As a woman who has embraced her cycle enough to work for a company like Lunapads, I wanted to put myself back into the mindset of when I got my first period while reading.  I remember it being an overwhelming amount of new information to process and despite my mothers enthusiasm and support (she even bought me a book!), I still felt embarrassed about the newness of now being ‘a woman’.

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A couple of weeks ago, the moons collided at my house and I ended up with a Luna Rebellion on my hands.

After a long, productive day at work, I was looking forward to chillaxing at home because I had my period. I just wanted to be mellow for a bit. Greeting me was a familiar bathroom incident of pre LunaRevolution days; the dogs got into the disposable pads in the trash. Talk about gross!

Before Lunapads, we had opted to hide our garbage can in a cupboard due to the dogs fondness for this toxic treat. Thankfully, we don’t have to deal with the disposable mess anymore. But on this day, someone had tossed a used plastic pad into the garbage in my house. What?! Seriously? My little sweetie confessed she had needed pads, so her dad (who she is with on weekends) bought her disposables.

I added “purchase Lunapads” to my task list.

The very next day I arrived home and my Drama Major middle daughter greeted me with “your products don’t work!”. Now, this child of mine is the hardest sell I have ever had.  I had a problem, a real rebellion on my hands – and a teenager on her period to boot! Yikes!

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Yesterday we had the extraordinary good fortune to be visited by some remarkable people working for change for Ethiopians, the leaders of Partners in the Horn of Africa, and Hope for Children.

Yewoinshet Masresha is an engaging and charismatic Ethiopian woman and the founder of Hope for Children, an organization which has received worldwide attention for its pioneering work in the care of women and children affected by HIV/AIDS.

A social activist from her early teens, Yewoinshet joined the Red Cross at age 17 during a period of political instability and war in Ethiopia. When she refused to marry a high ranking military official she was imprisoned in solitary confinement for three years. She emerged with a renewed strength and commitment to help women and children in need. The impact of  HIV/AIDS was having a profound effect on the country and many children were losing one or both parents to the virus. It was in response to this HIV/AIDS crisis that Yewoinshet founded Hope for Children, the first NGO in Ethiopia dedicated to the care of children affected by HIV/AIDS.

Yewoinshet shared her personal story with us firsthand, as well as describing life for most women and girls in Ethiopia. In many communities, for example, girls are expected to wash male visitors’ feet, and are given undesirable bits of meat, while their brothers receive choicer pieces. Education for girls is widely seen as being pointless, since they will end up married often before they even reach puberty. Yewoinshet also described a deeply negative and shame-based culture around menstruation, and the devastating effect that it has on girls’ self-esteem and education (a sadly familiar story, which for our part we are seeking to address in various nations via our Pads4Girls program.)

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Have your kids brought information packets about periods home after a health education session at their school? What product samples were they given? Did they receive information about alternatives? What can we do to help you spread the LunaRevolution? Answer any of these questions to be eligible to win 1 Teen Booklet and Lunapads Pantyliner!

As many of you know I have 3 daughters. 2 have graduated from High School and one is in Grade 9. Together they have experienced a number of health education sessions offered through the public school health care programs. They have brought home a variety of information packages. Some very elaborate, some with next to nothing (much to my youngest’s dismay). But one thing was consistent every time; there was never mention of washable alternatives and it became a pet peeve of mine. A fair representation of what is available seemed to me to be something that should be happening but wasn’t.

One day I decided to take action and see what it would take to get washable alternative information into the school’s puberty education. To my surprise, it was pretty easy! All you need to do is contact your local health unit or school nurse and offer them this opportunity!

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Moon Mysteries Giveaway
Comment below telling us about why you feel like there’s more to our cycles than shedding uterine linings (ie having your period ;-) for a chance to win.

I have just finished reading Moon Mysteries: Reclaiming Women’s Menstrual Wisdom (order here) and despite having my curiosity whetted for the past couple of years by our good friend and longtime Lunapads supporter Nikiah Seeds, was not disappointed. The book is truly a labor of love, written by Nikiah and Nao Sims, and illustrated and designed by Eyan Myers. There is so much that is rich and beautiful about this book and its authors and illustrator that it’s hard to know where to start.

I have read many useful books on the topic of women’s cycles, however none that inspire in quite the way that Moon Mysteries does. Reading it brought me back to a powerful place of reflection over my own menstrual history, leading me to realize how Lunapads itself can be read as a reflection of my own unmet yearning for honoring and connection as a menarchal girl. Moon Mysteries delivers this gift on numerous fronts, inviting meditation, celebration and awareness raising in every phase of the fertility cycle experience.

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Shanti Uganda is a fantastic organization that improves infant and maternal health, provides safe women-centered care and supports the well-being of birthing mothers and women living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda. In addition to that, they havebeen a Pads4Girls distribution partner for years now, providing cloth pads to girls through their Holisitic Health programmes and to new mothers at the Shanti Uganda Birth House & Learning Centre. Natalie Angell, co-founder and Executive Director of  The Shanti Uganda Society shares her personal experience with Lunapads while building a Birth House in rural Uganda, after childbirth and also distributing reusable pads to women and teens in Uganda. Natalie is an incredible Vancouver woman whose vision and mission we at the Lunapads office are big fans of.

Shanti Uganda Giveaway!
Natalie has graciously shared some crafts from the women’s sustainable income generating group for us to give away. Leave a note here about your travels with reusables or experience in activism to win a yoga mat bag, banana bag and some hand rolled, paper beaded jewelry! Webale (thank-you in Lugandan) Natalie!

I started using Lunapads during my first trip to Uganda in 2007.  At the time I was using organic cotton, chlorine free disposable pads and tampons and had long given up my relationship with tampax (and the impending fever, cramps and sweat that they caused after about 15 minutes).

In 2007, I founded The Shanti Uganda Society and shared my time between Uganda and Canada.  In Uganda, there was no option to purchase my less toxic menstrual products and filling a suitcase with a few months supply of chlorine free menstrual products seemed like a silly way to pack. Making the switch to Lunapads took up far less room in my suitcase and I could easily hand wash and dry them. I also loved how soft and comfy they were – much better than plastic lined pads in the hot climate!

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Ashley’s LunaRevolution Video
Watch More LunaRevolution Videos >>

Ashley is the winner of The People’s Choice Award for our recent LunaRevolution Video Contest – Congrats, Ashley! She is also an avid maker of videos reviewing various feminine hygiene products and sharing her menstrual experience with her peers on her YouTube channel.  We are excited to share our recommendations for this Lunagal!

Name: Ashley

Age: 14

How did you hear about reusable menstrual products?
I heard about reusables from YouTube videos!

Please describe your monthly needs:
My flow varies from month to month. Typically 2-3 days super light, 3 days average and 3 nights average to heavy. Also, light discharge throughout the month.

If you are currently using disposable products, which ones do you use, and for what needs?
Pantyliners for the first day or two. Regular tampons for about three days. For 3 nights thin overnight pads. And pantyliners throughout the rest of the month.

Why do you want to switch to reusable menstrual products?
I want to switch to reusables for several reasons! First, Lunapads are so cute! Secondly, they are discreet and quiet! Thirdly, I’d love a more comfortable option without rashes!!

Anything else you would like to share about yourself?
I am a teen girl who loves to make YouTube videos!

Our recommendations for this teen who is out in the world sharing about positive periods with her peers!

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It’s that time of year again and we’ve had a few inquiries from Lunagals heading off to University. Dealing with the challenge of leaving a familiar home setting and loved ones is tough and potentially sharing an intimate environment with other young women who may or may not have jumped on the reusable menstrual product bandwagon can be downright intimidating.

Solution? Lunapads giveaway to the rescue!

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Ladies Rock Camp Vancouver is a 3-day version of Girls Rock Camp Vancouver, which had its first session in summer 2009. Girls Rock Camp is an international non-profit organization that was created as a forum to help girls ages 8-18 build self-esteem through music creation and performance. But ladies want and need to rock too! At LRC Vancouver, ladies of all ages and skill levels will get a chance to do just that – they will form bands, write songs together, and perform their original songs at an amazing showcase. And the coolest part of all is that all the proceeds from LRC go toward providing food and supplies for Girls Rock Camp Vancouver.

Visit the GRCV website to learn more >>

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One of the most exciting new directions for Pads4Girls these days is that we are creating relationships to facilitate learning about how to make pads, in addition to sending them over from Canada. There is much more news to come on this front, but in the meantime here is a wonderful example that is particularly poignant because of the involvement of a group of girls in Vancouver rallying to support girls in Kenya, via the US Peace Corps.

A dear and longtime girlfriend of mine has been working as a Girl Guides and Pathfinder Leader for the past decade. She brought her troup of ten 12-14 year old girls, the #4 Vancouver Pathfinder Unit, to visit Lunapads recently. The girls were particularly taken with Pads4Girls (I had shown them our video about it when I attended one of their meetings last year), and they surprised me with a wonderful donation of $140 that they had earned via babysitting.

Fate had it that a few days later we received a request from Helen McGuirk, a US Peace Corps volunteer, requesting help with finding donations to help her teach a group of girls in Kenya how to make their own pads. They needed $344 to complete the funding, and so we took the $140 the Pathfinders had raised and made up the difference ourselves. Please read Helen’s email below about the project to see what can happen when girls and women come together for a common cause.

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