For Catherine Harvie, the challenge of confronting the stigma of women's periods took on a new level of meaning and importance after a trip to Uganda in 2010.
"I was asked by local women if I had any spare disposable pads," she said.
"I gave most of my own supply away … and learnt [about] the other options that these women were using: dried leaves, pages from exercise books, cow dung, old rags."
Following her return to Australia, Ms Harvie went online to search for a more sustainable option than disposable pads, and discovered the organisation Days for Girls.
The international organisation formed on the idea that change began at a local level.
Grassroots global change
For Ms Harvie, volunteering to effect change started small and has grown immensely over the past decade.
"In many countries and cultures, menstruation isn't talked about and many cultural 'norms' prohibit a girl who is menstruating from doing certain things," she said.
"She may not be able to bathe or go to the water bore to cart water or she may need to go to a hut outside the village while bleeding.
"I started [volunteering] in my own home and then it got bigger and bigger to what we have now."
Ms Harvie is now coordinator of the Days for Girls Wagga Chapter (DFG Wagga), with a core group of volunteers who meet monthly and range from just six years old to 92 years of age.
"Through education and careful partnerships, we encourage conversations among leaders and educators around traditions and myths," she said.
Community collaboration
This multi-generational consortium of volunteers collectively makes sustainable and reusable menstrual management kits.
They include soap, instructions, towels and washers, and pads.
DFG Wagga uses a patented pattern to sew reusable menstrual products and creates kits to send to girls and women overseas.
The Wagga chapter of Days for Girls partners with a range of organisations and predominantly sends kits to Papua New Guinea.
They aim to distribute more than 700 kits per year.
DFG Wagga is celebrating its 10th anniversary in May, which is the same month as World Menstrual Hygiene Day, held on May 28, and National Volunteer Week.
As to the importance of volunteering and what it means to her, Ms Harvie said, "Personally, volunteering helps gives perspective to life. Being able to give of myself to bring hope to others is an honour".
