Tackling The Crimson Elephant In Papua New Guinea

Guest blog by SSE student Jac Torres Gomez, Co-Founder of Crimson Campaign. 

There is an elephant in the room…in fact that elephant is creeping through society, and everyone is avoiding eye contact with it.  This Crimson elephant needs addressing and consideration.  That elephant that I am talking about is menstruation, and it is my goal, through my new social venture Crimson Campaign, to bring that elephant into our dialogue and community development initiatives in a positive and respectful way through small projects.  In this blog, I am going to share one recent local project working with women, girls and the community in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Crimson Campaign in action - Jac (right) and Kiri running a consultation with women from Port Moresby

In October 2011, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit Port Moresby, PNG to share the idea with the local community of introducing the use of reusable, affordable sanitary pads made from second hand clothes.

The purse pad is made from second-hand clothes and is reusable

These sanitary pads, known as ‘purse pads’, are cheaper than commercially produced options and much better for the environment because they can be easily washed and reused for up to two years. The pads can be sewn by hand or sewing machine and can be made from materials found cheaply in any second hand clothing store.

Due to issues around accessibility and high costs, many women in PNG struggle with managing menstruation. This has a huge impact including many missing school each month because they are unable to access appropriate sanitary products. It also has an impact on how these women feel about themselves.

While one may think this may only impact on the specific woman in question, in fact she is part of a broader family and community.  And when she feels positive about herself, her health, her finances, her footprint on the environment, and her life options, this has a strong ripple effect to others around her.  More broadly, this positive effect can contribute to achieving gender equality in communities.

Although not often talked about publically, menstruation poses many barriers for achieving gender equality and environmental sustainability across the globe. Many young women miss weeks of school every year because they can’t afford or access sanitary pads. Accessing sanitary pads is even more of an issue for women without incomes or women living in rural and remote areas of PNG. Disposable sanitary pads also create a burden on PNG’s precious environment, with the average woman disposing of around 150 sanitary pads every year. These items end up in rivers and oceans across the country or are burned, contributing to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The YWCA of Canberra supported me, in collaboration with another women Kiri Dicker, to undertake a feasibility study with the YWCA in PNG around developing a small business to make these purse pads.  The visit however, more than met my expectations. During our visit, there was such a strong interest generated from the idea that we had the opportunity to deliver workshops to several groups of local women, teaching them how to make these reusable pads for themselves. Interest grew and we were also invited to share our idea on national radio and television. A particular highlight for me was a visit to the Bomana Women’s Prison. As result of the visit, the women in prison will now be making the pads as part of their regular sewing program. For these women, making and selling the reusable sanitary pads will provide them with an important livelihood skill so they can make an income when they are released.

Jac (right) with Samual, a volunteer with the YWCA of PNG who developed his own version of the 'purse pad', lace finishings and all!

There was also interest from men, with one young local man being so impressed with the idea that he went home and interviewed his aunts and mother, and other local women, around their thoughts of the purse pad.  He met with us the next day and presented us with an upgraded model of the purse pad – with lace finishings and all!  A few days later when I asked him if I could purchase a pad from him to show my SSE colleagues back in Australia, he laughed and said that there was such a demand for it that all the pads he developed had all been sold already.  Truly a glorious moment for Crimson Campaign to know that someone was already making a livelihood from the project idea.

Jac and Kiri with staff from the YWCA of Port Moresby

With this project in PNG as just one example, I am using the ‘constellation model’ for Crimson Campaign where I support small ‘working group’ communities to form to achieve impact in different ways through different projects.  Working in this model, I feel I am having a positive role in improving the lives of women, their families and the community and supporting sustainable change for these people.

Moving forward, some future initiatives of Crimson Campaign include working with partners (that is the key!) in several projects including the development of an environmental and financial menstruation tool, the development of a school curriculum resource, and working with refugee camps to support local solutions to sanitation issues.

If you feel strongly about this issue and would like to get involved, please get in contact!  This movement is about people power, and it begins with the community and you.

Jac Torres Gomez
www.crimsoncampaign.org