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Kathy Wallace came to the podium to introduce the Guest Speaker and said that with the help of Rotarians a school in Cambodia was opened in June. Kathy was looking for another project and she became aware for “ Days for Girls” . This is a topic that is rarely raised at Wollundry Rotary .. menstruation. Kathy introduced Chapter Director Catherine Harvie who started Days for Girls in Wagga Wagga and their youngest member Georgia Booth.  Days for Girls distributes reusable sanitation kits to third world countries and have just distributed one million kits. Catherine has travelled extensively and young girls ask for disposable pads for menstruation. . Menstration can have horrible impact on young women when mothers do not explain the normalcy of beginning menstuation. Some young women are forced into a hut during their menstrual cycle due to local lack of education. Often girls are forced to stay home from school and to move out of the house or in many cases fear for their health due to lack of education. When Catherine and her team go into a community to distribute the kits they have to meet with the leaders... and they are usually men and there is an educational factor that is achieved in this interaction. The pads are made of new cotton materials, bright colours and if taken care of properly, they will last three years. The cost of the kit is $15. |
Georgia Booth came to the podium. “I am off a station and when I told my Dad that I was volunteering for 'Day for Girls … I was met with silence.”  Now, we communicate openly about the subject as he and my mother are very proud of my involvment. So, I started in my gap year and in 2017 I went with “Day for Girls” on a ten day trip to Nepal. It was then that I discovered that young ladies that are menstruating are made to live with animals and sometimes get bitten by snakes. Georgia will soon go to University and she hopes to continue her work with Day of Girls. She feels lucky to live in Australia where sanitary products are readily available and although we cannot change the culture in other countries .. “Days for Girls” strives to make life easier for women. Their motto is “Every Girl. Every Where. Period.” |
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| David Byfield, Peter Crozier and Catherine Harvie inspecting a kit. |
Paul Milde gave a very sincere vote of Thanks.