Daniella's Ramblings

As many of you may know I do my best to support a charity called Dignity Dreams. Dignity Dreams operates across Africa and seeks to ensure that women have access to menstrual health resources. This means they lobby those in power, they educate and provide sanitary pads and other menstrual health materials.

One of their main aims is to ensure that women and girls in economically marginalised communities do not miss work or school because they are menstruating. This is a big thing. If these people lose a few days every month they are knocked further behind the curve. In the case of working women their earnings suffer and in the case of school children their academic performance suffers. They are thus further marginalised as a result. If these people can get access to sanitary pads they can escape this cycle and Dignity Dreams works hard to achieve this goal by supplying washable and reusable pads and underwear (yes, many women lack access to these items). They also seek to empower women by training them to produce these items.

Dignity Dreams also seeks to destigmatise menstruation. Unfortunately this perfectly normal and natural process is still a taboo subject in many areas and as such some cultural practices are deeply harmful to women. By educating communities and societies Dignity Dreams aims to empower women of all ages to break free from these taboos and stigmas.

As a transgender person who has never missed a day of work or indeed school due to menstruation I would like to do what I can to ensure that no woman does endure this damaging experience. I so realise that many transgender people the world over miss work and school because of bullying, discrimination, fear, crippling dysphoria and probably many other reasons and I do not seek to diminish or negate those experiences, but this is a cause that affects a large portion of the total population and as such also deserves our support. I therefore ask all transgender people who have never missed a day of work or school due to menstruation to stand with the women of the world and donate whatever you can to this worthy cause.

Dignity Dreams have got 29 people riding in the 94.7 Cycle Race which is held in Johannesburg in November every year and they would love to give each rider a specially designed Menstrual Cycle Jerseys to build awareness at this event.

They are therefore asking people to donate and I have been challenged, I am accepting the challenge and I am donating R350.  I am also challenging all of you, but especially those transwomen out there who have never missed a day of school because you were menstruating, to donate (if you can afford to) so that no child ever misses school because they are menstruating. You can donate R100 (US$10) or more to this great cause!

Should more money be raised than is needed for these jerseys, I am sure that the surplus funds will be used for other Dignity Dreams activities, so your contribution will not be wasted.

Please follow this link to see how you can help Dignity Dreams.