Let's End Period Poverty Ghana
Former Centre for the History of Medicine MA student, Meg Boatemaa Asare undertook a research project in Ghana in June 2024 funded by Wellcome with the aim of combating period poverty by: providing sustainable menstrual products; educating girls in school on menstrual hygiene and creating an open dialogue about menstruation; and seeking to advocate for policy changes at local government levels to ensure menstrual health support in schools and public spaces.
The project was carried out over two weeks in two different regions in Ghana: 3 community schools in Kumasi and 2 schools in Accra. Notable successes were the establishment of emergency pad banks in schools ensuring no girl misses school due to the unavailability of menstrual products; and the inclusion of men and boys in menstrual health education sessions helping foster a broader cultural change toward a more inclusive perspective on menstrual health.
A full write-up of the project is available here, and Meg has recorded a short documentary about her time in Ghana.
People's History of the NHS website launched
As part of the Cultural History of the NHS project, a new website has been launched to collect personal stories and memories of the National Health Service from patients, health workers and others. We'd love to hear your recollections of the NHS and what it means to you. If you would like to participate in this part of our project, please visit our People's History of the NHS website where you can tell us your stories, respond to calls for information, find out about public engagement events, and visit our Virtual Museum and People's Enclyopaedia of the NHS.
Saturday 24 November
How have the lives of mothers been changing since the Second World War and have these changes been for good or bad? Has what it means to be a mother been transformed by feminism, rising divorce rates and the growing numbers of women in the workforce?
Join Angela Davis, a historian at the University of Warwick, to hear tales of motherhood, past and present, as she presents her oral history of motherhood, Modern Motherhood: Women and Family in England, c. 1945-2000. Drawing on the themes of continuity and change we will consider what these women’s stories indicate about both the history and future of motherhood and the family in England.
Friends Meeting House
4.00pm
Refreshments provided
Tickets: £5.00
