Every time you buy a Ruby Cup, you donate one more to a young person without access to safe period products. A Ruby Cup helps to stay in school and relieves from the monthly stressful days. Getting access to a healthy and sustainable menstrual product, combined with an educational workshop that opens a safe space to discuss puberty and menstruation, offers our users a chance to live their periods with knowledge, dignity and without shame.
Ruby Cup: Menstrual Cups Donations & Educational Workshops
The distribution of Ruby Cup requires a thorough educational workshop : local NGOs teach our new users about menstrual health and how to use a Ruby Cup.
We teach our users about reproductive health, we bring down taboos, they help us make better choices for their bodies.
Buy One, Give One
Photo: A Femme International Feminine Health Management Workshop in Kenya.
Let's talk about menstrual care
Our educational workshop includes information on reproductive health, menstrual care and how to use a Ruby Cup.
We always aim to create a safe space and encourage communication between the trainer and the students. We use charts, drawings and games to engage our participants.
Ruby Cup users themselves, to make sure they can talk about menstrual cups.
Our menses, our pride.
Menstruation is still a taboo and most people do not have access to information about what is happening to their bodies. The stigma surrounding periods and menstrual blood, together with the paint of menstrual care products, means that many people are afraid and ashamed when they menstruate. This has a negative impact on their performance in school, self-esteem and self-image. Our goals are to normalize periods and to become them "Champions of Menstruations", as one of our Ruby Cup Trainers mentions:
Unfortunately, young women are at risk of experiencing unwanted pregnancies, STIs and HIV and many are living in harsh situations. Our workshop aims to debunk myths regarding the female body and to deliver sound information on reproductive health.
The Ruby Cup Distribution Method
This is the part where most of the people see a menstrual cup for the first time. They get to know how to use, clean and care for their Ruby Cup. The session is kept interactive and they are asking about any doubts they might have.
Ruby Cup: Sustained Support
The educational workshops and distributions are only the initial part of a successful program. Once they start using a Ruby Cup, many questions will arise and they will be critical. This happens in the form of visits to the schools after some months of use. We therefore ensure that an experienced Ruby Cup user is available and willing to answer the new users' questions.
Over time, a peer-to-peer support network emerges, where the most experienced users (maybe the girls in the year above, that have bee using Ruby Cup for months) help the newbies. This encourages communication and the creation of a safe space, where the users can have a lot of fun.
We truly believe that educating young people, providing them with Ruby Cups and giving them sustained support creates a positive impact on their lives and therefore a positive, long-term impact for their communities.
Related blog post: Cultural attitudes to menstruation
