What does it mean to get your first period? Who do you talk to about it and how do you talk about it? How do periods affect us around the world – differently and in the same ways?
Taboo Global Periods is a community-driven project that sheds light on how periods impact young people and communities around the globe.
We interviewed Marina and Peace, founders of OrganiCup’s partner NGO PeriodLink. They met in sixth grade and founded the organization in 2019, at 18 years old.
Marina is based in London but grew up in several different countries and got to experience many cultures. Mexico is the place she calls home, but she lived in Japan from the age of 8 until the age of 11.
Marina on the 7th day of a hunger strike for climate action.
Marina in Accra, Ghana.
Marina and her family – original description: “I’ve got the best family, the best people around me, boxing, swimming, good food on the table, a job teaching cute kids (…)”
Peace at the University of Oxford.
Peace in 2018.
Peace spent her childhood and early teenage years in Togo before moving to England. She is currently studying Modern Languages at the University of Oxford.
Peace’s hobbies include
listening to podcasts and painting.
Tell us about your experience with periods growing up?
My experience with periods was a rollercoaster of a journey but it ultimately left me in awe of my body and the amazing things that it does to keep us healthy.
Marina and her mother – original caption: “Gracias por enseñarme a luchar por lo que creo”
(“Thank you for teaching me to fight for what I believe in”)
I was 10 or 11 years old the first time I heard about menstruation. It was in one of those giggly sex-ed classes, the girls and boys were separated, and our teacher showed us a short clip about what menstruation was.
Towards the end of the lesson we were shown pads and tampons. The teacher got out a glass of water and then dumped the tampon in it. The whole class gasped as it sponged outwards and expanded. I was 100% convinced that never would I ever put one of those INSIDE ME! Little did I know I’d be dropping them for the menstrual cup.
I went through a sporty phase – swimming, boxing and running most days of the week. As my schedule changed, so did the rhythms in my body. My period became very irregular. I went to the doctor a few times but everything seemed fine – so I just embraced the irregularity (and made sure to carry spare pads around with me!)
I was terrified of tampons, then I hated them, loved them and then finally ditched them!
For a while I was worried that guys would notice that I was on my period. I remember hiding pads in my pencil case so that I could leave classes to change my pad without anyone knowing.
At the supermarket I would hide pads under other shopping items so no one would see. I honestly have no idea why I acted as though male eyes would melt and their ears bleed if they saw and heard anything period related.
I guess I have now made up for it by speaking so openly and frequently about periods with my male friends – now they probably know more about periods than some women do themselves.
And, not only are they mostly empathetic, they all want to know more! This is one of the reasons why at PeriodLink we make sure that boys and girls learn about menstruation together but also give space for them to ask questions separately.
Growing up, the topic of menstruation was endowed with far more secrecy than I think it deserves. This meant that it was often whispered about and was brought up when – and only when – there were no guys around.
I think what has changed the most is that my friends and I feel a lot freer to talk about it whenever and wherever we want.
With PeriodLink, when we went to speak at some schools in the Volta Region in Ghana, we would often have meetings with the teachers prior to the talks. Most of them were male and it was one of the first times that I was discussing menstruation with people who looked like my father.
In the space of a week, I had spoken to more adult African men about periods than I had in my entire life. It was both weird and gratifying.
I would say that a lot of the credit has to go to social media campaigns and organisations that have worked over the years to destigmatize the subject.
Young Peace.
Peace after shaving her hair to help raise money
to tackle period poverty through PeriodLink.
An NGO is born
It was their experiences and a shared interest in changing things for the better, that made Marina and Peace take matters into their own hands. They founded the NGO PeriodLink at 18 years old.
Today it is a youth-led NGO, aiming to keep young women and girls in school by breaking down taboos, providing sexual and menstrual health education as well as reusable menstrual products.
The making of PeriodLink.
Top row, left to right:
Male educators in Ghana / Planning educational workshops in rural schools / PeriodLink’s workshop providing period products to schoolgirls.
Bottom row, left to right:
A draft survey to assess how cups are received in schools in rural Ghana / Marina and Peace / Schoolgirls from rural communities in Ghana.
Tell us about why you decided to establish PeriodLink?
I am very thankful to have a friend like Marina with whom I often discuss a variety of issues pertaining to global development. The impact of menstruation on girls’ education was one of the topics that came up during one of our conversations.
I strongly believe in the power of academic education as a liberating force for all people. The idea of doing any kind of work towards a solution to the problem really excites me.
Marina and Peace in Ghana, 2019.
Our goal is to work to the best of our ability to dismantle the barriers that prevent girls from accessing and making the most of their academic education.
Me coming from Mexico and Peace from Togo meant that we would often talk about problems that were happening back home and would spend lunch times in the school canteen thinking and talking about potential solutions that could help alleviate some of these situations.
The thought that young women all across the world would miss school or drop out simply because they couldn’t afford menstrual products, was crazy to us.
A natural bodily process should never be a barrier to a girl’s education. We also knew that it didn’t stop there; more women skipping school means that more women get married earlier, and are more reliant on their husbands for income – which creates gender power imbalances in the household, amongst other spiraling problems.
It was clear to us that there was so much overlap between topics like gender equality, education, the climate crisis, race and sustainability.
Peace and Marina’s final thoughts
Thank you
A big thank you to Marina and Peace for sharing their story with us! Their efforts to make a positive impact in the world and the way they’re taking matters into their own hands as two young adults is a great source of inspiration to us – and we hope to bring that same feeling to our readers too. Consider supporting PeriodLink – go to periodlink.com for more information and keep up with Marina and Peace’s work at @periodlink.
Stay up to date and get more behind-the-scenes pictures, videos and stories.
Be part of the project
Taboo Global Periods is a community-driven project. If you are interested in telling your story, we want to hear from you: show us how periods impact you or those around you.
Text, pictures and videos are welcome.
What does it mean to get your first period? Who do you talk to about it and how do you talk about it? How do periods affect us around the world – differently and in the same ways?
Taboo Global Periods is a community-driven project that sheds light on how periods impact young people and communities around the globe.
We interviewed Marina and Peace, founders of OrganiCup’s partner NGO PeriodLink. They met in sixth grade and founded the organization in 2019, at 18 years old.
Marina in Accra, Ghana.
Marina is currently based in London but grew up in several different countries and got to experience many different cultures. Mexico is the place she calls home, but she lived in Japan from the age of 8 until the age of 11.
Marina on the 7th day of a hunger strike for climate action.
Marina and her family – original description: “I’ve got the best family, the best people around me, boxing, swimming, good food on the table, a job teaching cute kids (…)”
Peace at the University of Oxford.
Peace spent her childhood and early teenage years in Togo before moving to England. She is currently studying Modern Languages at the University of Oxford.
Peace’s hobbies include listening
to podcasts and painting.
Peace in 2018.
Tell us about your experience with periods growing up?
My experience with periods was a rollercoaster of a journey but it ultimately left me in awe of my body and the amazing things that it does to keep us healthy.
Marina and her mother – original caption: “Gracias por enseñarme a luchar por lo que creo” (“Thank you for teaching me to fight for what I believe in”)
I was 10 or 11 years old the first time I heard about menstruation. It was in one of those giggly sex-ed classes, the girls and boys were separated, and our teacher showed us a short clip about what menstruation was.
Towards the end of the lesson we were shown pads and tampons. The teacher got out a glass of water and then dumped the tampon in it. The whole class gasped as it sponged outwards and expanded. I was 100% convinced that never would I ever put one of those INSIDE ME! Little did I know I’d be dropping them for the menstrual cup.
I went through a sporty phase – swimming, boxing and running most days of the week. As my schedule changed, so did the rhythms in my body. My period became very irregular. I went to the doctor a few times but everything seemed fine – so I just embraced the irregularity (and made sure to carry spare pads around with me!)
I was terrified of tampons, then I hated them, loved them and then finally ditched them!
For a while I was worried that guys would notice that I was on my period. I remember hiding pads in my pencil case so that I could leave classes to change my pad without anyone knowing.
At the supermarket I would hide pads under other shopping items so no one would see. I honestly have no idea why I acted as though male eyes would melt and their ears bleed if they saw and heard anything period related.
I guess I have now made up for it by speaking so openly and frequently about periods with my male friends – now they probably know more about periods than some women do themselves.
And, not only are they mostly empathetic, they all want to know more! This is one of the reasons why at PeriodLink we make sure that boys and girls learn about menstruation together but also give space for them to ask questions separately.
Growing up, the topic of menstruation was endowed with far more secrecy than I think it deserves. This meant that it was often whispered about and was brought up when – and only when – there were no guys around.
Young Peace.
I think what has changed the most is that my friends and I feel a lot freer to talk about it whenever and wherever we want.
With PeriodLink, when we went to speak at some schools in the Volta Region in Ghana, we would often have meetings with the teachers prior to the talks. Most of them were male and it was one of the first times that I was discussing menstruation with people who looked like my father.
In the space of a week, I had spoken to more adult African men about periods than I had in my entire life. It was both weird and gratifying.
I would say that a lot of the credit has to go to social media campaigns and organisations that have worked over the years to destigmatize the subject.
Peace after shaving her hair to help raise money to tackle period poverty through PeriodLink.
An NGO is born
It was their experiences and a shared interest in changing things for the better, that made Marina and Peace take matters into their own hands. They founded the NGO PeriodLink at 18 years old.
The making of PeriodLink.
Today it is a youth-led NGO, aiming to keep young women and girls in school by breaking down taboos, providing sexual and menstrual health education as well as reusable menstrual products.
From the top:
Planning educational workshops in rural schools / Male educators in Ghana / PeriodLink’s workshop providing period products to schoolgirls / A draft survey to assess how cups are received in schools in rural Ghana / Marina and Peace / Schoolgirls from rural communities in Ghana.
Tell us about why you decided to establish PeriodLink?
I am very thankful to have a friend like Marina with whom I often discuss a variety of issues pertaining to global development. The impact of menstruation on girls’ education was one of the topics that came up during one of our conversations.
I strongly believe in the power of academic education as a liberating force for all people. The idea of doing any kind of work towards a solution to the problem really excites me.
Marina and Peace in Ghana, 2019.
Our goal is to work to the best of our ability to dismantle the barriers that prevent girls from accessing and making the most of their academic education.
Me coming from Mexico and Peace from Togo meant that we would often talk about problems that were happening back home and would spend lunch times in the school canteen thinking and talking about potential solutions that could help alleviate some of these situations.
The thought that young women all across the world would miss school or drop out simply because they couldn’t afford menstrual products, was crazy to us.
A natural bodily process should never be a barrier to a girl’s education. We also knew that it didn’t stop there; more women skipping school means that more women get married earlier, and are more reliant on their husbands for income – which creates gender power imbalances in the household, amongst other spiraling problems.
It was clear to us that there was so much overlap between topics like gender equality, education, the climate crisis, race and sustainability.
Peace and Marina’s final thoughts
Thank you
A big thank you to Marina and Peace for sharing their story with us! Their efforts to make a positive impact in the world and the way they’re taking matters into their own hands as two young adults is a great source of inspiration to us – and we hope to bring that same feeling to our readers too. Consider supporting PeriodLink – go to periodlink.com for more information and keep up with Marina and Peace’s work at @periodlink.
Stay up to date and get more behind-the-scenes pictures, videos and stories.
Be part of the project
Taboo Global Periods is a community-driven project. If you are interested in telling your story, we want to hear from you.
Show us how periods impact you or those around you.
Text, pictures and videos are welcome.