Happy November PIF subscribers! It’s Gabby here from the TABOO team.
Things have been busy over here at TABOO HQ with new PIF community partners coming on board, education projects underway to engage better with multicultural communities in the menstrual health space, and collaborating with councils in SA implementing accessible period products and menstrual health education.
In September, Eloise and I were lucky to be able to travel to the Flinders Ranges to visit our PIF partner Operation Flinders, who exist to transform the lives of young people through remote outback adventure programs. Operation Flinders operate their program from Yankaninna Station in the Northern Flinders Ranges, offering a remote and challenging landscape to conduct the program.
“Creating opportunities for young people facing challenges through adventure therapy programs that provide demanding experiences, personal development and pathways to wellbeing and life success.”
Groups of 7-10 young people aged 13-18, 2 teachers from their school/agency and 2 team leaders from Operation Flinders walk for 8 days carrying packs on their back with everything they’ll need for 8 days in the field. Teams walk to a different location each night where they are provided rations to cook their own meals over the fire and water for the following day. Participants typically cover 100 kms over the course of the 8 days and participate in high rope and abseiling activities. Challenged by the harsh landscape of the Flinders Ranges, young people build resilience, learn navigation and bush survival skills and learn to trust their teammates and team leaders through team building activities.
There is a massive logistical effort behind the scenes with a command team responsible for the safe and efficient conduct of an entire exercise, and a team working in the kitchen to feed the 20+ volunteers that stay at base camp. Majority of the people working at Operation Flinders are volunteers, with some having volunteered since the first exercise in 1995.
It was very inspiring to see so many people volunteering their time (some who’ve done so for many years!) to work on such an amazing program that generates real and meaningful change for the young people who participate. And for the volunteers. It’s obviously a program worth coming back for. If you’re interested in volunteering for Operation Flinders, head over to their website.
We’re so proud to partner with Operation Flinders and support their young people with period products.
Since our last PIF update, we have donated 1,015 boxes of period products around Australia to people at risk of period poverty.
In June we sent:
48 boxes of pads and 48 boxes of tampons to Orange Sky, who provide laundry and shower services for people experiencing homelessness around Australia.
54 boxes of pads and 21 boxes of tampons African Women's Federation of South Australia (AWFOSA). AWFOSA is a community run organisation representing the interests of African women and their families in the SA community. AWFOSA provides a space for African women's views to be heard and influence policy, ensuring the accessibility of services and participation in all aspects of society for African women and youth.
24 boxes of pads and 48 boxes of tampons to SASY our long time Pad it Forward partner! SASY is an independent secondary school that operates with a vision to reconnect disengaged students with complex needs, by reigniting their interest in education through holistic learning and practices that focus on wellbeing.
120 boxes of pads and 48 boxes of tampons to McAuley who provide inhouse support to women who have experienced homelessness, many of whom have also experienced family violence. They bring together health, legal, employment and recreational responses and help women and children navigate from a place of trauma to safety, confidence, healing and hope.
In August we sent:
48 boxes of pads and 12 boxes of tampons to the Yalata Kidney Health Festival. The Yalata Kidney Health Festival is a program run by students studying University of Adelaide health degrees, providing them the opportunity to experience life in the remote Aboriginal Community of Yalata (SA). The Kidney Health Festival is a week-long event where 12 university students work alongside the teachers at Yalata Anangu School running activities and teaching about chronic disease prevention with a focus on chronic kidney disease.
40 boxes of pads and 12 boxes of tampons African Women’s Federation of South Australia.
60 boxes of pads to the Adelaide Medical Students’ Society (AMSS) APY Land Exchange. The AMSS APY exchange is a student-run program that offers medical students from the University of Adelaide the chance to experience life in the APY lands. The Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands are comprised of 11 small Indigenous communities in a remote area of far north South Australia. The AMSS APY exchange is a week-long program during which 4 groups of 5 medical students visit the lands to run a health-focussed school holiday program.
48 boxes of pads and 12 boxes of tampons to Operation Flinders, who run outdoor therapy adventure programs programs for young people at risk.
72 boxes of pads and 24 boxes of tampons to the Puuya Foundation, a community run organisation in Lockhart River in far north QLD, who operate support programs that deliver social impact in the community.
60 boxes of pads and 48 boxes of tampons to Parramatta Women’s Shelter who provide housing and wellbeing support services to women and children who have experienced domestic and family violence.
So far in September we’ve sent:
120 boxes of pads and 48 boxes of tampons to Northern Peninsula Area Family and Community Services, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander run health, social and wellbeing organisation.
As always, if there is a school, community organisation or health service that you believe would benefit from receiving period products from the Pad it Forward Program, please get in touch at gabby@tabooau.co.
Your support for this program means a lot to us here at TABOO and to the people receiving pads and tampons as a result of your contribution. Having safe and dignified access to period products enables people to participate in important activities like school and work, and ultimately continue to participate in their life.
Thank you for fighting the good fight against period poverty here in Australia. We really couldn’t do it without you!
Gabby and the TABOO team x