Junior Camden Pringle brings Clover Hill’s attention to the non-profit organization, Sylvia’s Sisters, which helps schools and the country of Uganda have knowledge about menstrual cycles and access to the right sanitary supplies. As MedlinePlus describes, menstruation is a normal bleeding that occurs as part of a women’s monthly cycle.
Associate principal, Renee Green, the person who let Pingle have the school-wide partnership with Sylvia’s Sisters. Green expresses that when she was notified about Pringle’s idea, she was proud of Pringle.
“I was excited for her and proud of her,” Green said. “I think it’s a topic that people don’t like to talk about, because it’s ‘icky’,” Green said.
Green discusses the need of having a platform to educate people about menstruation as a vital resource, and how it supports other women and the cost of period products.
“It’s an important and vital opportunity for all of us to think about how to support women, and particularly the burden that women have to bear with the cost of items for something that they can’t avoid,” Green said.
Green speaks about the experience of having a first period, and how going through puberty can be awkward and uncomfortable. In addition, she talks about how many women who have experienced their first period can relate to the embarrassment of the experience.
“An experience when you first have your period, is going into adulthood. It can be uncomfortable and also embarrassing,” Green said. “The reason why we come together as women, and understand that this campaign is important is because we have experienced those moments and to share common things.”
Having safe menstruation is important for girls, physically and mentally. Sylvia’s Sister distributes AFRIpads, donates water catchment tanks, and teaches emotional and educational support to young women going through their first period. Safe water is a major struggle for many citizens in Uganda as women in Uganda are viewed as lower status than men.
Katie White, the school nurse, suggests that giving advice and telling experiences can help educate young ladies.
“I think that’s really important, just because you know from experience what to expect, and so you can share that information and your experience with another woman, or for a young lady who’s starting their period,” White said. “A lot of girls in a lot of communities and a lot of areas don’t understand what’s happening, and all of a sudden there’s blood there, and blood can be scary. So, it’s important to know that’s a perfectly normal bodily function.”
White discusses having clean water and sanitation as vitally important because without it, the risk of infections increases.
“Cleanliness and sanitation purposes and increased risk of infection with dirty water,” White said.
White expresses that having products for menstrual is a sanitary thing and that if girls are not having the right products they are not attending school.
“It’s a sanitary thing. People want to try to stay clean and manage their menstrual flow as well as possible,” White said. “The girls don’t come to school if they don’t have proper supplies, so when we want kids to be at school so they can be educated.”
Camden Pringle, a Math-Sci junior at the Hill, is the person who is behind the partnership with Sylvia’s Sisters. Pringle explains the idea came from her mother, who is a gynecologist.
“It was actually my mom’s idea. She is a gynecologist, so she works in these kinds of things, and she introduced them to me, and from then on, I just took [the] lead into reaching out to them and getting more people involved,” Pringle said.
Pringle speaks about how the people around her help her notice the problems surrounding feminine products and how she helped spread the word about Sylvia’s Sisters.
“I reached out to my friend who is also interested in becoming a gynecologist,” Pringle said, “Her name is Ellie Griffin, she goes to Thomas Dale, and we helped spread the Sylvia’s Sisters drive to Thomas Dale,” Pringle said.
Pringle discusses the importance of still supporting Sylvia Sister’s drive after the closure of the drive on Dec. 20, 2024, saying that the cause of the Sylvia’s Sisters is still an ongoing issue of feminine products and how to still support them.
“I am so grateful for everyone who has donated and has given support to the Sylvia Sister’s drive. But sadly, it’s not enough. It’s like a worldwide issue,” Pringle said. “The Sylvia’s Sisters do support women locally, but they also support women in Uganda. Even though I’m not doing the drive at the school they still have, if you go to the Sylvia Sister’s website, they have links where you can donate money directly to them, or you can donate Amazon products to be shipped to them, and they are very local.”
Overall, the Sylvia’s Sisters partnership at Clover Hill came to an end. It is still a worthwhile cause to go to their website and to support all women being able to have the right education and products to have a safe menstruation cycle.
Visit the Sylvia’s Sisters website for more information: https://sylviassisters.org/
