What is Andelay?
ANDELAY means “together“ in Amharic and is a non-profit organization set up to break the silence, abolish the stigma and limiting harmful beliefs around menstruation worldwide and particularly in developing countries. We aim to connect and collaborate with everyone already working in this field as well as with all those open to assist individually. We invite groups everywhere to unite and continue speaking up as a collective catalyser to drive this movement forward. We all have such great empowering capacities to discover free from limiting beliefs. We are here to innovate ways of rising up TOGETHER.
Andelay’s primary mission is to ensure that more girls are able to rise above the stigma and shame of menstruation while finishing their education. We also encourage and support men to become more aware so future generations of girls will be empowered by society as a whole.
Why?
We people of the world (ANDELAY, together) must increase the awareness of the drastic and unfair situation where still way too many girls and women find themselves disadvantaged in regards to the menstruations due to the ostracism and stigmatization they have to face encouraged by strong limiting beliefs protected by the general silence on the topic.
The Statement
Due to issues of stigma and shaming surrounding the menstrual cycle, hundreds of millions of girls miss school every week, gravely reducing the percentage of females who finish high school. Worse, there have been cases of girls in remote areas who committed suicide due to the abuse and shame encountered from having their first menstruation in class.
Beyond girlhood, women everywhere are shamed and disadvantaged in many ways due to limiting beliefs and the lack of support for their basic human needs, from sanitation and clean water to the availability of sanitary products and reliable information about how to use them.
It’s time that women and girls everywhere feel supported and welcome in this natural process of our humanity’s existence, by men and women alike. This is a birthright. It is part of the human dignity entitlement everyone deserves.
ANDELAY intends to do its part WITH YOU.
Your financial support would be welcome, and indeed, is tremendously needed. But so would volunteering one hour a week to collaborate internationally with the Andelay team.
TOGETHER we go further.
How
ANDELAY’s actions :
- Create international platforms of awareness using social media to catalyse the movement.
- host regular gatherings, conferences and eventually other events and festivals to not only create awareness and a call for action, but to add value to all those with yet little-to-no power to access means of self-care and self-support during their menstruations cycle.
- fund and implement support for areas in most need of it by innovating and inspiring impactful progress that can be replicated and scaled.
We plan to:
- Teach how to hand-make biodegradable menstrual protection products in partnership with local and virtual centres in an enjoyable, dignified and empowering way where all people can participate.
- Host local and international workshops to inspiring a new narrative of how we can all take action and collaborate as one human family.
- Raise funds to create affordable, accessible, biodegradable, reusable menstruation products, starting in Ethiopia.
- Create an awareness program to empower as many women and girls as possible by way of workshops and teaching that can be easily replicated and distributed.
In parallel, we will lobby governmental and official institutions for the reduction of taxes and the eventual free distribution of menstruation products worldwide. Come join us!! TOGETHER we can change the narrative around what it means to be a woman in the full cycle of life, celebrating women’s power and their bodies in healthy and supportive ways. ANDELAY!