This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend two amazing events in the great city of Toronto. Diva suitcases in hand, we made the hour drive in anticipation of sharing the DivaCup with women of all ages from across the city.
Our first stop Friday morning was Sister 2 Sister.
Now in its fifth year, Sister 2 Sister is a year-long project for grade 8 girls from 6 inner city schools that come together for a one day forum at George Brown College. Filled with workshops, great food and fun-filled ceremonies Sister 2 Sister truly is an event that empowers women. Throughout the day, girls had the opportunity to attend workshops that celebrated being a girl, from “Paperbag Princess Remix”, to “Express Yourself” (graffiti art) and “abunDance” (dance, drama and yoga all in one!).
The theme for this year’s event was “Creating Herstory” and these girls certainly did create “Herstory” around the topic of period care. Diva had the opportunity to facilitate one of the workshops and was incredibly impressed by the enthusiasm, honest discussion and reception these girls had towards period care and reproductive health.
The girls were welcomed to the workshop with warm cups of tea (red raspberry leaf or peppermint) and each had an opportunity to submit questions to our Diva question box, participate in a menstrual name game and share their thoughts about how femcare advertising makes them feel. Following our tea and discussion, we had a charting “how to” session with Feby bracelets, a brief history of feminine hygiene and of course an introduction to sustainable menstrual care featuring The DivaCup! The room was full of excitement, from re-claiming period talk, to question and answers about vaginal and menstrual health. At the end of the workshop, each girl was given a DivaCup goodie bag, each filled with period essentials like red raspberry leaf tea, ginger candies and of course the DivaCup and DivaWash!
Saturday brought us to our second event, flow festival – an all-day event filled with menstrual product vendors, workshops and a Red Tent, which held even more workshops!
The festivals theme, “happy menstruation, health fertility” allowed for great discussion, product demonstration and tips about better health for women of all ages. Diva also had the opportunity to share the DivaCup with all those in attendance through an informative workshop and attended some of the workshops ourselves courtesy of Red Tent Sisters, Yoga Goddess and Naturopath, Dr. Tara Anderson. Every woman we spoke to and each workshop attended reaffirmed just how important it is that more women have the opportunity to learn and hear about the DivaCup.
As we traveled from event to event, I couldn’t help but think: What better way to celebrate International Women’s Week then with events that celebrate what it means to be a woman!
I am amazed at all that women are doing “together” to educate, support and care for girls and women. I’m even more amazed at the recent opportunities the DivaCup has had when it comes to reaching women around the world. Whether through local community events, new store listings, magazine features or social media buzz, news of the DivaCup is reaching more women than ever before.
As we continue to celebrate the DivaCup’s 10 year anniversary, we are excited for the change of season, new partnerships and Divas we will get to meet as our spring events unfold.
