HERZ MOVEMENT INCORPORATED
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Mission Statement
HERZ Movement is a global organization that partners with local organizations in various countries to empower girls and young women by providing them with education for maintaining good health and menstrual hygiene, leadership training and mentoring, support for gender-based violence, and access to menstrual hygiene products.
About This Cause
HERZ Movement is registered in the United States as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. HERZ Movement was created to provide a zone where a girl can run her race towards social and economic empowerment by removing barriers that prevent her from being the guardian of her own life. For many girls around the world, menstruation is a major barrier to their social and economic empowerment that catches them unprepared and it occurs early in life. Without the skills and resources to manage it, menstruation is characterized by the “big red mark,” a spot of period leakage on their school uniform that has come to symbolize the shame and degradation of self-worth that girls experience all too often throughout adolescence. HERZ Movement seeks to eliminate the “big red mark” and everything it symbolizes by giving girls the knowledge and tools to manage their menstruation, and the leadership skills they need to pursue their own social and economic empowerment. Although HERZ Movement was recently registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (in 2020), it has been delivering its mission, on a small scale in Zambia since 2019. Since then, it has produced and provided reusable pads to over 700 girls and trained them in leadership skills. The donation we seek will expand our impact in the country. Description of need: Period poverty Period poverty describes the “inadequate access to menstrual hygiene tools and education, including but not limited to sanitary products, washing facilities and waste management”.2 Period poverty includes the lack of underwear, which if unavailable, a girl may not be able to use most menstrual products that have to be held in place. Due to the cost of commodities for reproductive health, many families are unable to purchase these products. They are forced to make critical decisions, buying food and paying for school fees, as opposed to buying sanitary pads every month. This leads to damaging misconceptions, discrimination, and causes girls to fall behind their male counterparts in educational opportunities they deserve. Many do not graduate school on time, if at all, failing to become socioeconomic contributors and self-sufficient providers. Stigma, taboos, and myths surrounding menstruation erode the self-image of girls and their confidence to pursue their goals. Missed opportunities In Sub-Saharan Africa, it is estimated that one-third to half of all girls miss school for at least one day every month due to the lack of access to information and commodities for managing their menstruation. Qualitative data collected through an essay competition by HERZ Movement in Mufulira, Zambia, revealed that the lack of access to the tools for managing menstruation prevents girls from being competitive, not only in school, but also in sports and other extracurricular opportunities. Among the narratives collected were those of a girl who was a finalist in a science fair, but withdrew just before presenting her project, and another who withdrew from the finals of a swimming competition. The two girls withdrew for the same reason; their menstruation began, and they did not have the knowledge or the products to manage it. Gender inequity The missed opportunities resulting from the inability to manage menstruation effectively sets girls behind compared to their male counterparts. In the two examples provided above, the girls discontinued the pursuits of their aspirations following the missed opportunities while their male competitors continued. In school, the missed days by girls during their monthly periods sets them behind. Without accommodations for girls to catch-up from the missed days in school, they fall further behind every month, increasingly compromising their competitiveness. In societies with limited room at the next level of educational progression, fewer girls are able to make it to each successive level, thereby extending the gender inequity chasm. Shame and degradation of self-worth As WaterAid rightly put it, “menstruation is too often taboo, and has many negative cultural attitudes associated with it, including the idea that menstruating women and girls are ‘contaminated’, ‘dirty’ and ‘impure’.” These negative cultural and social attitudes of menstruation are mitigated when the period is hidden and off the public radar. However, when a girl has an accident and the “big red mark” of her period is at the center of the public radar, the negative cultural and social attitudes are evoked, subjugating the victim to extreme shame. The impact of this shame can be long-lasting, chipping away at the girl’s confidence in all other pursuits as she goes through her teenage years. The impact is greater if the accidents repeat, and the shame becomes part of her identity. Her confidence to pursue socio-economic independence is eroded with diminishing confidence. Loss of future socio-economic productivity Menstruation, if not managed well, imposes long-term effects on the future economic and social productivity of girls. The stigma with which it is associated erodes their confidence to aspire or pursue leadership opportunities. Missing school makes them less competitive students and prevents their progression to higher and tertiary education. The failure to participate in sports and other after-school activities closes doors to alternative means of financial independence. These factors, collectively, disempower girls and the women they become. Our Solution The former Chief of UNICEF, Sanjay Wijesekera stated “Meeting the hygiene needs of all adolescent girls is a fundamental issue of human rights, dignity, and public health.” Consistent with this assertion, we imagine a world in which women and girls are equipped with resources to be guardians of their sexual and reproductive health rights. The health education HERZ Movement provides to girls, accompanied with the provision of reusable menstrual pads, eliminates the barriers to success caused by period-poverty. The health education and reusable menstrual pads offer a sustainable solution to period poverty, and an opportunity to empower girls to optimize their socio-economic potential. The leadership activities HERZ Movement organizes for the girls inspire them to, not only pursue their success, but also influence the success of their communities. The project being proposed will build on the current success of HERZ Movement. Specifically, it will focus on girls who have been rescued from the shame of period poverty and emphasize activities that empower them to pursue their dreams while aspiring for leadership. In the next section, we discuss the solution in detail. Objective 1: Reproductive health & gender education With this proposal, HERZ Movement intends to scale its menstruation hygiene education to include education on prevention of gender-based violence education to 200 girls over the next year Indicator: Number of girls aged 12-20 who receive the full package of reproductive health & gender education. Activity 1.1: Workshops and sports for reproductive health & gender education Currently, HERZ Movement achieves its goal of providing reproductive health & gender education through weekend workshops for girls. We are in the process of expanding the curriculum to utilize Frisbee games as a modality for learning. The workshops are structured classes where content for both reproductive health and leadership is delivered. To clarify, we do not educate or advise on aspects of reproductive health that include family planning. Rather, our focus is on providing a basic anatomy review for knowledge of the reproductive system, as well as incorporating life skill lessons in confidence, positive communication, conflict resolution, and eliminating gender-biased taboos. The game of frisbee provides girls with an opportunity to learn the same content in an informal and applied way that they can share with family and friends. More importantly, the participation in the league allows the girls to learn and experience the skills of teamwork and working together towards a shared goal, while infusing them with self-confidence. For this activity, a cohort of up to 20 girls will be attached to a coach/mentor that works with them for the duration of the league. Objective 2: Leadership development HERZ Movement will provide leadership training and mentoring to the 200 girls. Indicator 1: Number of girls aged 12-20 who graduate from the leadership program, having completed the capstone. Activity 2.1 – Leadership workshops and advocacy projects: The leadership activity will be combined with menstrual health education in order to optimize resources. The program will also be expanded to provide more opportunities for hands-on learning. Specifically, the girls will be trained in advocacy and as part of their capstone, they will be encouraged to develop and execute a social media or physical campaign that casts light on an ignored social ill or makes an appeal to local authorities to direct resources to a known, unmet need. The inclusion of advocacy is timely given that the Zambian government is transitioning to a decentralized system of governance that invites residents to partner with their local authorities in planning the use of government resources. The girls will be part of this deliberation through this program. Activity 2.2 – Storytelling training and essay competition: Another aspect of the leadership program that will be emphasized is storytelling. We will continue to utilize essay competitions, fostering the confidence for girls to share their backgrounds, as well as their ideas of ongoing solutions to issues around menstrual health they face. The girls will be the foundation for their advocacy. The girls will also receive guidance and encouragement in the oral delivery of their stories, whether for providing testimony at public hearings or for podcasts. Objective 1: Menstrual commodities Over the next 5 years, HERZ Movement will produce and mobilize over 60,000 packets of reusable menstrual products and underwear. This production will facilitate the donation of a packet of 3 products to each girl in the program.