Living with a disability and overcoming barriers in a wheelchair is nothing unknown to me. But one day my disability taught me a lesson that would ignite my passion for ensuring healthcare and inclusion on all levels. Being a public speaker and an entrepreneur, I was always rushing from one meeting to the other, creating value and making impact. Until one day I started my menstrual cycle on the road while heading to an investor meeting. 

That day I could not finding a single shop with wheelchair access from where I could buy a sanitary napkin in my own city, Lahore. It made me think of the barriers countless menstruators face even today because of the stigma around periods. So began a journey of launching Girlythings.pk that become a mobile application, website and a hotline to cater to menstruators and their different abilities to connect them with Menstrual Healthcare. 

The last three years we laughed, cried, fought, won and made many allies in our campaign to make menstrual healthcare an essential lifestyle category and part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. We delivered urgent and regular menstrual kits to our menstruators across Pakistan ensuring no menstruator misses school, an event or any opportunity because of their periods. 

During the Pandemic we delivered our products to keep the hygiene bar high and also launched a menstrual leadership workshop to train peer educators. Girlythings.pk is now working on a web tool to provide products to menstruators with a disability through an accessible tool and we are only getting started with the coolness! It’s time we make menstrual healthcare an integral part of access to healthcare for every menstruator in the world and that’s why we need you to join the club!

-TANZILA