By Isaiah Frizzzell
As a community, Sun Valley cares deeply for the ladies of the land. From The Advocates’ various support programs, to Lara Spencer’s Dollhouse confidence-mission, and now the Days For Girls club providing free menstrual and psychological care, women have a special place in our world with their own set of needs we can strive to serve and be aware of.
Anna Wiese is a sophomore at Wood River High School. A personal project sent her on the path of developing period kits for young ladies. Wiese realized her organization was not alone in doing this, so after her mother’s encouragement, she found a partner in Celeste Mergens, who had started Days For Girls in Africa.
Like many special things, it began from a dream. “Celeste went, in 2008, to Africa, to an orphanage, and she was there to solve world hunger. Well, she fell asleep, had a dream, and woke up to realize, ‘I need to ask about what they’re doing about their menstrual health.’
“But, she thought, ‘No, I’m here for world hunger. Why am I asking myself that?” Well, she woke up three more times during that night with the same question. And so when asking, their answer was that they put these girls in a room during their cycle, and for a week, they’d have them sit on a cardboard box with no food and no water, and they couldn’t go to school. And if they wanted to go to school, they would have to use things like raw bark, leaves, just about anything for menstrual supplies but the products designed for it’.
Eventually they petitioned Tampax and other large companies who sent products. “Her life changed when three girls came up to her and said that while big companies do send them stuff, as their principal was a male, they would have to exploit him to get the products that they needed for the day. It was a conundrum.’
Necessity being the mother of invention, Mergens devised a kit made of pantyliners for reusable, waterproof pads designed to look like washcloths in a waterproof bag they could discreetly carry to avoid unwanted attention. And that’s how Days For Girls started. Mergens decided to make reusable products.
The Days For Girls club Wiese has established here in Ketchum is completely free. “At the Days For Girls club here, we don’t just distribute kits, we make a safe space for women in our community to talk freely and feel empowered and more confident in themselves. It’s completely free. You just come and we talk about what’s happening in the world, about ourselves, and we talk about our confidence.”
Monica Reyes, of The Advocates, was in attendance at the launch and explained their interest. “The reason The Advocates was interested in partnering with Anna is we know that self-efficacy, self-worth and self-confidence are key protective factors for young people against abuse and dating and violence, and so any youth-led initiative in our community that’s helping build that up is so important to the work that we do. It’s connected. So we’re excited that Anna wanted to do this.”
So it’s not just about sewing and distributing the washcloth kits, Wiese continues, “It’s just a group of girls, and boys if they want to join, just talking about how we feel, how like, not only periods, but how everything makes us feel, like how other people’s comments trigger, or we’ll do activities where we really discover what it feels inside ourselves and figure out how we can build our confidence within and not from what’s around us. We’re working on self-image and building that confidence knowing we can do something. Not only is this for the group, but we can do something to make change in the community. Little steps go out into the world, you know?”
Days For Girls is a type of behavioral therapy, almost a gestalt method to usher girls through times of crisis—any crises, any age, and for boys as well, should they need. A wonderful new initiative to build confidence and maintain the mental health of the vulnerable, Days For Girls will be available on a ‘when you need it’ basis.
“It’s a time where you can just breathe. And you don’t have to be, like, ‘Oh, I just have to add this into my schedule.’ You don’t. It’s a breather in your day, and it’s gonna be on Fridays once a month.” Anna’s enthusiasm is joyful and contagious.
An official webpage for this chapter of Days For Girls will be up within the month, but for any partnerships, scheduling or collaborations, Wiese can currently be reached via email at: AGW1141@gmail.com
The official site is daysforgirls.org and on instagram: @daysforgirls, @days4girlswrhs and @daysforgirlsswboise