Middles are harder than beginnings.
Beginnings are always easy. The journey looks exciting, bright and hopeful. We are often filled with the anticipation of reaching our vision, our goal. This was certainly the experience of 2018 when we launched Unconquered: Bringing empowerment to women through sanitary pads.
But middles are harder.
There is often fog!
Teething problems.
Things which go wrong and brick walls seem a whole lot closer.
The excitement wears off and those wanting to roll up their sleeves for the long haul are fewer.
This was our experience in 2019.
We encountered difficulty with the machinery itself which drained energy.
As with any start up project, there are leaders whose skill set can initiate a project but whose skill set isn’t enough to expand a project to address the need of 250 million not having access to sanitary pads.
Cultural and gender based brick walls to dismantle.
Time challenges! You know where the clock continues to tick and the demands of life leave little to champion our ‘sisters’ lack of freedom.
Middles are harder than beginnings.
Yet… so much has been achieved in our second year of operation.
- Just before Christmas we raised sufficient funds for the second sanitary pad factory in India.
- We saw the onboarding of some major businesses. Change Overnight Hotel and doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation both came on board to support the change we seek for women.
- Laura Rigby came on board as our Communications Ambassador.
- On the ground solutions were found with the machinery.
- Leadership solutions have been found with the appointment of a new female leader.
- Our Ambassador pool is enlarging.
Middles are where we encounter the resistance to change.
It is where we have to dig deep and be tenacious.
The reason why 250 million women do not have access to sanitary pads is not just supply.
There are deep cultural and gender based reasons as to the why this problem has not been solved. They are brick walls which need to be dismantled. Dislodging the wall brick by brick takes time, grit and tenacity to hang in there until there is breakthrough.
Getting access to sanitary pads was going to challenge culture, systems, beliefs, values and gender.
In middle seasons I have learned we need to savour and appreciate what we have achieved together. Those sweet moments where you gather around the table, sit back and reflect on what has been achieved. Where you look at the faces of those who have helped pull a few bricks out of the wall and say, “THANK YOU.”
2020 is the start of a new decade.
A decade of vision. I believe it is possible to see 250 million women have access to sanitary pads within the next decade.
We begin the decade wanting to resource women on the ground. Empowering, educating and training women at all levels. Helping them to understand what is on the other side of the brick wall. We do invite you to join us as we try to build more micro sanitary pad factories and as we continue to pull down the brick walls which stop women from accessing sanitary pads and their future.
THANK YOU to everyone who has helped us pull down this wall. We don’t take it for granted.
If you would like to engage with Unconquered.love please message us at [email protected]
What was achieved in 2018
- Money raised for the first factory
- Building Acquired and manufacturing equipment purchased
- Girls trained in how to make sanitary pads
- Girls about to be trained in sales, marketing and health education
- Women raised and trained to run the project on the ground
- Women in India feeling so empowered and excited about this project they are now fundraising.
- Locally we have ambassadors putting their hands up saying, “I will help!”
- Our beautiful web site has been created.
What was achieved in 2019
- Just before Christmas we raised sufficient funds for the second sanitary pad factory in India.
- We saw the onboarding of some major businesses. Change Overnight Hotel and doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation both came on board to support the change we seek for women.
- Laura Rigby came on board as our Communications Ambassador.
- On the ground solutions were found with the machinery.
- Leadership solutions have been found with the appointment of a new female leader.
- Our Ambassador pool is enlarging.
