Donations for Ukraine. Over 50,000 thousand biodegradable tampons made of 100% organic cotton have arrived in the kits with menstrual products for people from Ukraine, in transit or refugees on the territory of Romania. Because we want to make access to the best quality menstrual products easier, we mobilized and turned to several associations that helped us donate further.

Why do we need to help refugee girls and women in Ukraine?

While most donations to Ukraine focus on food and clothing, thousands of girls and women continue to menstruate regardless of the state of peace or war anywhere in the world.

Against the background of the shortcomings and inequality between genders amplified in the two years of the pandemic (violence against women increased but also the work done by women - including at home - led to a massive burn-out, with the same pay gap as before) access to products menstrual, water and sanitary facilities suffered.

The ENROUSH team could not ignore these events, so we got down to business and decided to collaborate with several organizations and associations to donate 100,000 biodegradable menstrual products made of 100% organic cotton.

Therefore, we chose to donate menstrual products through the Romanian Red Cross , the Metropolis Foundation, the Accept Association, Save the Children and the Iele Sânziene Association.

A wave of feminist empathy

A month after the start of the war in Ukraine, a wave of feminist empathy has brought menstrual poverty awareness to the fore for many of us who didn't know the concept.

With thousands of women and teenage girls fleeing war, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, social status or age, we learned more and acted.

Fortunately, not only organizations and associations have mobilized to find the best solutions and to welcome refugees, but also most people, without experience in volunteering. We also realize that with these events, more people will learn about menstrual poverty - because we don't learn about it in school.

In an attempt to solve these problems, we have overcome taboos, prejudices and stigma related to menstruation and continued the ENROUSH mission.

"Our mission from the very beginning was to bring about a change and to be able to offer a better option to everyone who has periods. When we saw what was happening and how thousands of girls and women no longer had access to menstrual products, we couldn't stand aside. The whole team mobilized and in 3 days we managed to send over 40,000 tampons." Carmen Lumină, Founder & CEO of ENROUSH

Menstrual products are a right, not a privilege

Recent studies show that in the EU, one in 10 women cannot afford menstrual care products. However, menstruation is a natural process and access to products and facilities is a right and should not be a privilege.

Fortunately, things are moving, albeit at a local level, for the better: from 2021, female students of state schools and high schools in sector 6 benefit from menstrual products distributed free of charge , in dispensers installed in school toilets. It's a small but important step, and in the meantime we help where we can.

Because it's not the first time we're donating menstrual products in order to dispel, little by little, the myths and misconceptions about menstruation that maintain a climate of shame.

How to get involved concretely and help refugees

If you want to get involved and offer your help for refugees, whether you can offer accommodation, transport, jobs or donate food, money or your time, the good thing is that there are initiatives.

• The first step you should take is to check platforms that provide up-to-date information, such as refugees.ro - sign up to offer help in various forms - (accommodation, food or money, transport for people who cross the border, job offers, translator services)

• Check the "Unite for Ukraine" Facebook group, where you can find more current information

• Look for reliable sources and talk directly to representatives of organizations that routinely engage in such actions. What can you offer, exactly?

• You can donate food and goods (through the Accept Association and the Caradja Cantacuzino Association)

• You can donate blood (at any Blood Transfusion Center in Romania)

• You can offer jobs to refugees looking for a job (via the Hire a refugee platform)

• If you have a restaurant, you can offer a free meal (list of donating restaurants)

• You can donate money