SCA and the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) recently organized menstrual hygiene management education in Haikou, China, in connection to the Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Sanya, China, on February 5. In November, a similar workshop was organized in South Africa.
 
Nearly 30 girls, aged 10 to 12, had an opportunity to discuss topics like the female body, the importance of good hygiene during menstruation and to feel pride in what happens naturally every month.
 
A group of women—doctors, teachers and community volunteer organizers—had been trained in a train-the-trainers session by WSSCC the day before. The pre-training is essential to continue to spread the word and knowledge around menstruation, which in the long run is necessary to achieve sustainable change.
 
“Breaking the silence [around menstruation] requires knowledge and leads to real change,” says Archana Patkar, program manager, WSSCC, who held the training sessions both of the days. “The training went very well and it shows that the WSSCC/SCA partnership will leave a positive and lasting imprint for girls and young women in Haikou while also raising awareness of menstrual hygiene issues globally. We’re grateful to the Hainan Provincial Government for welcoming and supporting us in this work.”
 
“SCA’s partnership with WSSCC helps us to reach out and make a difference in people’s lives. This is the second training session on menstrual hygiene management we have jointly organized, and they have been inspiring and motivating to be a part of. I have seen groups of young girls develop, in just a couple of hours, from being extremely shy—to the extent of them covering their faces—to being courageous enough to ask questions, talk in front of the group and starting to look at their bodies as something to be proud of,” adds Kersti Strandqvist, senior vice president, Sustainability, who participated in the training sessions in both South Africa and China.