International Women’s Day with Burwood Council

On Wednesday 8 March, 11 of our Year 8 and 9 students participated in an International Women’s Day event with Burwood Council at Burwood library. They were accompanied by Ms Julia El-Azzi. 

This event was held in conjunction with Days for Girls and its purpose was to help advance menstrual equity, health, dignity and opportunity for all. Santa Sabina joined students from local schools and the Days for Girls volunteers for an inspiring information session and some community sewing.

Amelia Woods and Alexis Gittani from Year 8 attended and reflected on this experience:

Going to the IWD Days for Girls event with Burwood Council was a great experience that I was very lucky to be involved in. I learnt so much from the volunteers and really enjoyed seeing the process of making all of their products , hearing more about what they do and meeting council members at the morning tea. Going to this event has made me feel inspired to use my sewing skills to volunteer for the charity and spread awareness about the cause. 

Amelia Woods, Year 8

We got to meet Barbara and Rebecca, volunteers who are passionate about helping women and girls all around the world to have access to period products. When someone is menstruating , they miss out on a week of school, just because they can’t control their period. Instead, they stay in a separate place, namely, in huts. Due to it being unsanitary, five girls on average die per year, because of the unsanitary conditions. Days for Girls is a not-for-profit organisation that provides reusable period products to places that cannot access other products. They meet once a month and sew the different items. It was so great being able to talk to the different women about why they help and how they do it. This is an amazing initiative that has helped hundreds of girls over the past 15 years. This is very inspirational and reminds us how lucky we are to have access to these sanitary products.

Alexis Gittani, Year 8

Melanie van der Meer
Deputy Principal Mission and Pastoral Care