Red Cloud Project 🩸☁️

Ricebox Studio: How did you become an activist?

Mashiyat Rahman: In terms of menstrual health, I found inspiration within my own life. When I had my first period at the age of 11, I thought I had contracted some kind of deadly disease! It was years later when I finally understood more about menstruation and the male/female reproductive systems. Consequently, when my sister (who is 7 years younger than me) was growing up, I made sure I did everything I could to make her more aware of socially stigmatised topics. The process got me more involved in the wider scale issues attached to menstruation and female health in low-income neighbourhoods, and encouraged me to conduct further research about the subject.

RS: How did you create Resurgence?

MR: Resurgence was created when some of my friends and I teamed up to compete in our university’s chapter of Hult Prize in 2016. The competition’s prompt was to come up with a marketable and innovative product that would generate employment for refugees, and as the team leader, I wanted to look more into menstrual health (as refugees have little to no access to menstrual health and hygiene products).

After field trips to local refugee settlements, we found that most of them do not even have proper toilets. Sanitary napkins are expensive, so women mostly use cloth, leaves, or even ash while menstruating – and do not have access to proper washing facilities. This pushed us to look into cheap, accessible, and biodegradable menstrual sanitation options, and led us to experiment with a number of plant-based solutions.

We eventually succeeded with water hyacinth (as the cotton-like pulp of water hyacinth plants allowed us to make absorbent layers), and received funding from BRAC University and social entrepreneurship accelerators to continue on with our innovation. We also hired workers from the refugee camps in Dhaka (also known as Bihar camp) for water hyacinth extraction, purification, drying, sanitary napkin production and sterilisation, and distribution processes.

We began to train local community leaders on menstruation and reproductive health in order to make the knowledge more relatable. This helped us address three problems at once: the inaccessibility of sanitary napkins and reproductive health awareness, lack of employment opportunities for refugees, and the environmental nuisance caused by water hyacinth infestation in lakes.

RS: Who are the most vulnerable when it comes to period poverty?

MR: In a country like Bangladesh, period poverty often transcends the boundaries of social class. The stigma is so apparent that most schools, regardless of their funding status, are unwilling to approach the topic of menstruation and reproductive health. However, the most vulnerable, in my opinion, would be those who are unable to financially afford sanitary care in the form of sanitary napkins or safe water. This is even more extreme in the case of women who are homeless, physically or mentally challenged, or have refugee status, as most people tend to forget that they menstruate too.

RS: What are the biggest challenges with ending period poverty (both in Bangladesh and globaly)?

MR: The biggest challenge is definitely social stigma, shame, and sanction. Many governments all over the world still tax menstrual hygiene products as ‘luxury’ goods, or refuse to take initiative in subsidizing basic menstrual hygiene goods. As a result, people fail to perceive menstruation as an essential part of being human.

Additionally, many religious and community leaders press certain taboos upon their society, and these continue to worsen overtime. Superstitions are difficult to overcome in communities that do not have access to education. There is also a huge lack of platforms where women and men can discuss and learn about periods and reproductive health, allowing stigmas to continue.

RS: Who are the most vulnerable when it comes to period poverty?

MR: In a country like Bangladesh, period poverty often transcends the boundaries of social class. The stigma is so apparent that most schools, regardless of their funding status, are unwilling to approach the topic of menstruation and reproductive health. However, the most vulnerable, in my opinion, would be those who are unable to financially afford sanitary care in the form of sanitary napkins or safe water. This is even more extreme in the case of women who are homeless, physically or mentally challenged, or have refugee status, as most people tend to forget that they menstruate too.

RS: What struggles have you faced whilst being an activist within period poverty?

MR: A huge struggle that we faced collectively while conducting our awareness campaigns was repeatedly being branded as pro-Western radicals. Many of the communities that we have worked with have dealt with generations of period shame and superstitions, and this makes them less receptive to new knowledge. However, by training local community leaders over an elongated period of time and demonstrating real life case studies with the help of local gynaecologists, we have learnt how to overcome this challenge in most cases.

RS: What is the best way to talk about menstruation within the community, especially with children (both boys and girls)?

MR: All schools must have a mandatory reproductive health curriculum and there should be public platforms or even entertainment-style shows that openly discuss periods. Usually, people are most perceptive and responsive to new information at a young age, and children and teenagers like to educate themselves through relatable content. As such, learning through school, social media and TV will help them broaden their minds. At Resurgence, we have developed period and reproductive health-related games and competitions in order to encourage discussion and enthusiasm about reproductive health education through positive reinforcement.

RS: What positive encounter did you have through your activism work?

MR: The most positive encounter I have had was when a group of teenage girls we worked with successfully managed to address being bullied in school due to their periods. Not only that, they also managed to conduct independent research projects on their own and destigmatise periods for young girls in their neighbouring communities!

RS: Is the low-cost biodegradable method pads replicable by using other products? Is it accessible for other people to try it out? In case our readers wish to replicate this in their own countries!

MR: Yes! Many activists are already experimenting with the use of other plant-based biodegradable alternatives, such as banana leaves and bamboo. Personally, however, we found water hyacinth the most feasible due to the highly absorbent and cotton-like consistency of its pulp.

RS: What’s next in your work?

MR: We are currently trying to construct a text-bot that can help women access menstrual and reproductive health advice directly from their phones, by connecting them with gynaecologists free of charge.