Help us bring menstrual cups to Cuba!
ABOUT our campaign
Help alleviate period poverty in Cuba!
In Cuba, menstrual hygiene products are rationed by the state. Most frequently, state stores do not provide women with enough pads per month, and simply, these establishments are too often out of stock for weeks at a time. The scarcity of hygiene products in Cuba forces women to use unsanitary and uncomfortable alternatives to deal with their period. Period poverty puts an additional pressure on the daily lives of Cuban women, who are often the head of the household.
Our goal is to tackle period poverty in Cuba by providing women in disadvantaged neighborhoods with free menstrual cups and workshops on menstrual health. Menstrual cups are a great tool to fight period poverty, as one cup can be used for up to 10 years. Cups are made of medical silicone, and provide an ecologically sustainable alternative to traditional menstrual products such as pads and tampons.
The cups will be distributed in the province of Matanzas with the help of our two partner organizations, Azabache and Wenilere Cardenense, which work towards the empowerment of Afro-Cuban people in the city of Cárdenas and beyond. Our initial aim is to bring as many menstrual cups to Cuba as our donations permit in April 2023. The workshops on menstrual health will be held by local volunteers as community service.
Please help us fight period poverty in Cuba! Any and all donations count!
If there are funds remaining after reaching our initial goal, the rest of the resources will be dedicated to buying a sewing machine for the women-led small businesses sponsored by Wenilere Cardenense, and to jumpstart Wenilere’s urban garden project for food sovereignty in the disadvantaged Afro-Cuban neighborhoods of the city of Cárdenas.
Our crowdfunding campaign complies with the Finnish Money Collection Act, and our small-scale money collection number is the following: RA/2022/1764. [Note: Due to restrictions related to the U.S. embargo on Cuba, we were not able to use commercial crowdfunding platforms. That is the reason why we are publishing our campaign on Wenilere Cardenense’s page, and not on a crowdfunding website.]
WHO WE ARE
This campaign is led by María A. Gutiérrez Bascón, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki researching issues of urban inequalities and spatial justice in Latin America. María José Carrasco, co-organizer of the campaign, lives in Finland and is a health practitioner interested in holistic approaches to health and well-being. Outi Luova is a university lecturer at the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Turku, and she’s passionate about lending a hand to Cuban women.
In Cuba, Sarahí García is an activist and coordinator of proyecto Azabache, which works towards the empowerment of Afro-Cuban people in the city of Cárdenas and beyond. Alberto Abreu is an acclaimed writer and activist who leads the community organization Wenilere Cardenense, equally concerned with issues of equality and justice.
HOW to donate
This campaign is now closed. Thank you to our generous donors for their contributions! If you’d like to know more about how to collaborate with us, please email María at gutierrezbascon@gmail.com
ContacT
For any inquiries, you can contact María A. Gutiérrez Bascón at gutierrezbascon@gmail.com or +358 041 748 1106.
Wenilere Cardenense 