Raduva Sisters Distribute Dignity Kits for Women, Girls
The Raduva sisters have so far distributed more than 250 dignity kits and five cartons of sanitary pads to both disaster affected villages and families who have been affected with employment opportunities.
The sisters Climate Change activist AnnMary Vikatoria Raduva and her younger sibling Faith Lagilagi were yesterday packing more dignity kits to give out today on World Menstrual Hygiene Day.
“After launching and distributing dignity kits, last month after Tropical Cyclone Harod we found out that many families that don’t have sanitary items on their shopping lists because it is not a need,” AnnMary said.
“We need to make people know that menstruation is not a sickness. For some families, a difficult choice has been made between food and sanitary products,” she said.
AnnMary is in Year 11 at St Joseph’s Secondary School while Faith is in Year Eight at Nehru Memorial Primary School in Toorak.
“For this year’s World Mentrual Hygiene Day our parents gave us some allowance to buy more items so we can pack more dignity kits,” she said.
The kit includes sanitary pads, a toothbrush, toothpaste and bathing soap.
It is aimed to help a woman or an adolescent girl survive her monthly menstruation.
“With a reusable and waterproof zip lock bag, we want them to feel comfortable when they’re using it.” she said.
“And we have planned to do a short video for our social media pages to raise awareness.
“We have just started raising awareness on menstrual hygiene and we acknowledge the organisations and health workers who have been doing this.
“However, I think there is still a lot of work to do to really break the silence of menstruation hygiene and management.
“Menstruation can be really difficult for younger girls to talk about it. Getting a period is very normal and it is part of a girl’s life cycle, but for us young girls, it can be an inconvenience financially and an embarrassment.
“We really hope that this COVID 19 curfews and lockdowns gives families the time needed at home to talk about real issues and menstruation should be one of the topics parents should openly talk about with their children.
“We emphasis children, because it should not be just a “girl talk”. Brothers and other male relatives should also be made aware of this instead of leaving them (boys) out of the conversation. This should generate more respect and understanding when an “accident” happens either at home or in school or other public places.”
Their mother Moira VilsoniRaduva said the basic dignity kits would help another woman and young girl with the much needed necessary sanitary care for a month. “So many women have forfeited sanitary products every month and are stuck in a situation where they have to choose between buying sanitary pads and feeding their children. And this is a topic that not many people feel comfortable and want to talk about,” Mrs Raduva said.
“These past three weeks have been a busy one at home with online school work, zoom meetings for our teen activist, shopping for sanitary kits, packing and helping them with their distribution logistics and making sure that every item and dollar they receive are used for their dignity kits drive.
“When I’m busy at work, my husband does the sanitary care errands for the girls and has been a pillar of support in making sure the girls balance their school work with their
“We are blessed with the kind donations from families, friends, colleagues and we made new friends through donations that have been dropped off at home for this cause. “A youth group from Whakatane in New Zealand also fundraised and remitted money for the girls to buy the essentials they need to reach their 1000 target.
“It’s all about team work and we are so blessed to be part of our daughter’s campaigns, whether it’s planting mangroves along the Suva foreshore or packing sanitary care items for a village or family in need of basic hygienic supplies or trading cupcakes with toiletries for the dignity kits.”
The Raduva siblings had received a donation of 42 cartons of sanitary Libra pads from Asaleo Care.
They are hopeful that they can reach their 1000 sanitary kits target. “Many kind donors have also reached out with cash donations and toiletries to our drive,” AnnMary said.
“We would like to have sanitary care items for schools and to use this drive to raise awareness of period poverty and sanitary health care. “At the moment, my sister Faith and I are working on a sanitary care project that we hope to propose to the Health, Education and Women ministries for their support in having sanitary bins with packed kits in schools and public facilities where women and girls can access easily for free. And if we can have an audience with these line ministers to present our drive and issue it will be an added bonus.
“We understand the economic hardships now, but it would lessen the burden for many families and we have done a small informal research and have found out that a lot of women give up sanitary pads for food.”