Who is Chula?
The Blob. Time of the month. Red Wave of Death. Shark Week. - These are some of the words young people have used to describe their period. They gave their opinions as part of a workshop in confronting taboos. These were run by Chula - an empowerment charity based in Sheffield aiming to help young people reach their full potential.
Periods are globally stigmatised, with one study reporting six in ten girls have experienced negative comments associated with their periods. Even the language around periods - sanitary products - are rooted in shame; implying dirtiness and uncleanliness. They’re neglected throughout our education and leave a bloody gap in young people’s knowledge about their bodies. In the UK alone, 49% of children have missed a day off school because of their period. Almost one in four young women ‘didn’t know what was happening when [their] period started’.
On top of that, when things ARE wrong, many women are ignored by friends, partners and medical professionals. Despite one in ten women having endometriosis in the UK, it takes an average of 7.5 years to get a diagnosis. We want the young people we work with to have the knowledge and the language to empower themselves and their bodies. Through these workshops our goal is to de-stigmatise the language around menstruation and provide an inclusive and safe space to be curious about our bodies.
This is the taboo our workshop aims to address. Our period workshops lovingly titled Don’t be Afraid of the Big, Bad, Blood, really dive into the stigma and education of the issue. We were joined by three bloody wonderful guest speakers – Freya from Don’t Cramp my Style, Natalia from Period.PMDD and Jamie who discusses all things endometriosis. All of these organisations confront the taboos associated with periods and are amazing platforms for promoting autonomy from understanding our bodies and uniting as a community to help those in need. Since lockdown hit, the usual face to face workshops are all run online, and we have done all we can to make them as interactive as possible. In these sessions this has included brilliant guest speakers, creating our own clay uteruses to understand our anatomy, and crafting our own period pads. All things education through a collaborative and creative virtual space. The focus of these sessions has been to inform our young people what is normal, what is not and most importantly not to feel the stigma surrounding periods.
“I love that Chula is such a relaxed and welcoming environment, I find that sometimes discussing my endometriosis with people can be uncomfortable or unwelcomed due to period taboo. However, Chula is extremely encouraging and supportive in helping me share my educational Endo Zine and has allowed me to share my experience with the illness.
The charity Endometriosis UK shared a quote that said “62% of women aged 16-24 don’t even know what endometriosis is” and this really concerns me. Especially, when I only discovered what endo was at 21. If I had known about the illness from a younger age, I may have been able to get help sooner. Therefore, I’m so happy that charities like Chula can spread awareness and make the topic more comfortable for young people to discuss.” - Jamie, Endometriosis
We’re the connector. We don’t claim to be perfect and know all the answers. We want our young people to be inquisitive, know their autonomy, and develop into resilient adults.
Chula are a small, locally led charity based in Sheffield focused on empowerment, education and the collaboration of young women from challenging backgrounds. We work with our partner organisation, based in Mambo, Tanzania, where we deliver educational and empowering workshops led by local teachers. We understand the importance of locally led initiatives when collaborating with international communities - with a focus on empowerment and collaboration that include community building and local partnerships. Everything we do here at Chula is led by the needs of our beneficiaries.
‘’Chula has made a really big impact in my life. I think it’s amazing how much a small charity can make a mass difference. Thank you for letting me get involved in Chula’’ C, aged 16.
We provide skills-based workshops to allow our beneficiaries to experience opportunities, build on their learning and encourage them to use their education to make a positive impact in the world. Our empowerment workshops focus on creative and physical activities that help our beneficiaries understand and care for their bodies. Whether this be our monthly Exercise workshop that encourages the young women to have a positive relationship with exercise through our Mind Body and Soul workshops, our H is for health workshops, our Book Club or even Chit, Chat, Chop that allows us to get creative with our cooking!
Chula gives a voice to our young girls, providing a safe space where they can build friendships, try new skills and learn to believe in how truly fantastic they really are.
‘’I would like to continue working with Chula because it’s really helped me to talk with people easier and combat my anxiety. It’s got me out of the house and made me much more independent as I spent each Saturday in the City Centre’’ M, aged 17.
Our curriculum often fails young people. We need to fill in these educational gaps across ages and make sure that whilst we empower our girls, we educate our young boys too.
We believe that every young person should have equal educational opportunities and experiences, no matter their background. We want the young women we work with to be resilient, understand themselves and their bodies, and be confident in who they are. This is central to every workshop we deliver. We’re a small charity with big goals.
For more information about what we do at Chula Education please follow us on twitter and instagram @chulaeducation. If you are inspired by what we do and would love to join our mission please email us at hello@chulaeducation to discuss anything volunteering opportunities or potential collaborations!
Written by Lily Fairbairn
Lily is the Policy and Communications Lead for Chula Education.
After recently completing her masters in Public Policy, Lily has stayed in Sheffield and plans to carry on putting all that she has learnt into action!
When she’s not researching or advocating for social issues she can be found amongst a variety of crafts. Lily loves learning new skills and always has a new project. Whether she ever finishes any craft projects is another thing...