The top international schools in Beijing have so much to offer their students that it’s inspiring, for a change, when students themselves take the initiative to create a club to fulfill a purpose close to their hearts. Tracy L. is a student from Dulwich College Beijing (DCB) who started the Women’s Health & Menstruation (WHM) initiative that aims to address the lack of sex education and alleviate the stigma of women’s menstrual periods. Jingkids International speaks to Tracy L. about her motivation and drive to start this initiative.
JKI: Could you please introduce yourself?
Tracy L.: I am an empath who loves creative writing, music, and cats. I believe this world is broken, but I also believe that we can stitch fissures together with care and love. For me, kindness doesn’t need a reason.
JKI: Tell us more about WHM
Tracy L: WHM (Women’s Health& Menstruation) alleviates period poverty/stigma and lack of sex education through education and donation. We have educated 2,000+ rural girls, donated 30 thousand+ pads, and won an Outstanding Non-profit Award in Fuxing out of 623 organizations. WHM has an established public donation source on Tencent Charity.
JKI: What motivated you to start WHM?
Tracy L.: Biases and misunderstandings surrounding menstruation can contribute to period poverty and perpetuate period shame, resulting in adverse physical and psychological effects for young women. As someone who has experienced this stigma firsthand, I started WHM with my friends to tackle this issue. From small actions such as providing pads and posters in the girls’ toilet, to answering questions about sexual assault in rural China, we believe that no action is too small to make an impact.
JKI: What was the greatest obstacle you faced?
Tracy L: On seeing the word “period” or “sex”, some girls tend to gasp and hide behind books in shame. It’s unfortunately all too natural that societal taboo infects girls in rural China on how they carry their identities and ideas.
To dismantle this, we would make our workshops conversational and share our personal experiences with the stigma. The girls would eventually lift their heads out of their books, emerging carefully with newfound curiosity. For these girls, it’s not just about periods – it’s also about learning to take their first steps on a journey of self-love, growing confident in not just their bodies, but also their identities, ideas, expressions, and personalities.
JKI: What are your next moves for WHM?
Tracy L: Firstly, we have already expanded our extracurricular classes to high school members so that students can continue to raise awareness even after graduation. Secondly, on the road to gender equality, we realized that bringing males into the conversation is equally as important as educating females about their bodies. Hence, instead of separating boys from the period and sex education, we are currently making our classes more gender inclusive.
We want to share more stories like Tracy L.’s to inspire our future generation to take initiative in creating solutions to society’s problems. Get in touch with us if you know someone with a story to share! Email us at viviennerush@beijing-kids.com or WeChat @VivienneTseng-Rush.
KEEP READING: The Bloody Truth About Periods: Everyone Needs to Know
Images: Courtesy of Tracy L.
