Erin Geiger: 0:10

Welcome everybody to the latest episode of clover this week, I am overjoyed. I told Celeste so Celeste Morgan's is joining us. I told her. I was like, I'm just in awe of you. Best Selling Author, founder of the global award winning organization, days for girls, which we will definitely dig into. Celeste, welcome to

Unknown: 0:30

the show. So happy to be with you. Aaron, I

Erin Geiger: 0:34

Yeah, I'm just thrilled at the conversation we're about to have. I always start with digging into a person's background, their history, their journey, you might say. So can you let me know what, how did you start, like, take me back, you know, and how did you get from from A to B in your journey? I mean, you can start as far back as before your career started, and kind of go from there?

Unknown: 1:01

Sure, I actually started out wanting to be an electrical engineer. All in for that. For me, Jade electrical engineering was going to be the thing started out with that had a family catastrophe that diverted me from completing my college career and ended up with a gift of focusing on a family. We have six children, and we loved it. It was amazing. And there were days that I thought, well, I've made my choice. I've traded this beautiful joy for what could have been with my intellect and capacity will be focused on people building and lo and behold, I was several things happened, 45 and I got to finish my first master's degree creative writing and literature. Shortly thereafter, 47 and finished my second global sustainable development. And then days for girls began. The founded days for girls, and that was 2008 and it grew to be a global movement, step by step, day by day, and the most beautiful ways that was all about listening and paying attention and showing up, I have been in in awe of how it's all turned out. I'm one that can absolutely testify that there's this beautiful thing called seasons in life, and it's all not one track. Thankfully, we get to do many, many beautiful things.

Erin Geiger: 2:35

Yeah, I agree with you people, because I you know they'll tease me because I have the podcast, like doing all these things, but like people, like you, inspire me like but we can if we have multi interests and multi passions. That's what life's about. So tell us about days for girls, how, how you came up with it, what it is. Tell us all about it, because it's such a powerful movement that we, all the world, needs, and I'm so glad that you started it.

Unknown: 3:00

Days for girls is a movement that helps women and girls have access to menstrual care and health education for the whole community. It involves the whole community, and it is actually providing menstrual products and education hand in hand. We today have enterprises as well, of days for girls all over the planet, clubs and chapters, of days for girls all over the planet, and today have reached just a sliver under 3.9 million women and girls in 145 countries. Wow. And it didn't start out that way when this began, I had no idea that it was even an issue, that people were going without what they needed and that it's limited their days. That's why it's called days for girls, giving days back. And what happened is, I was helping a friend with her school in rural Kenya, and they were providing education in a way that included the whole community, in a way that provided opportunity for the parents to engage and for it to be owned by the community. And so part of that was sustainable solutions, and that's my specialty. And so we were seeking more sustainable solutions, namely a health clinic. And while doing that, were introduced to an orphanage. And at the orphanage, there were 420 kids who are in really tight circumstances, and I fell in love with them and wanted to help. I started bringing sustainable solutions to them. Fast Forward, a year and a half later, post election, violence created a displacement of half a million people, and this orphanage now had 1400 kids. I learned that they were sitting on pieces of cardboard for days, no way to leave the room, no way to. Go to class, no way to take care of themselves, and in that moment of learning that I I was one astonished that I hadn't asked before, and to recognize something important. I have a background that that I now consider a gift, certainly didn't at the time, but I as a child, went without a home at times and went hungry at times. So while helping them, I recognize that if we provided money for pads and they needed food, which was in short supply, and we sent money for pads, it would be used appropriately for food. So how do you make a solution that could be counted on month after month? So we made our first washable days for girls kids, in addition to sending ahead money for them to buy single use disposable products. So imagine, in just three and a half weeks, amazing volunteers rally to make 500 washable menstrual kits, and they were in eight enormous green duffels, and we lugged them there. But before doing that, I asked, Who's teaching and what a period is? And they said, no one is you can which at the time, not being a world expert in this, that was a terrifying thought, but we had this wonderful conversation about how amazing our bodies are and that there's nothing to fear. It's actually a superpower, because without periods, there would be no people. And I got to watch the shifts in their body language and their joyous celebration when they got their kids, it was literally tears echoing off the ceiling. And then as we came out, a set of the girls stood there, and one of them said, Thank you so much, because before you came, we had to let them use us if we wanted to leave the room and go to class. I was hoping that didn't mean what I feared it meant, but it turned out they were being exploited in exchange for a single, washable pad. And that was the moment days for girls was born.

Erin Geiger: 7:11

Yeah, wow, that's incredible. I mean, it sounds like you were there for another cause and then stumbled upon this, you know, and like another way that you can serve and solve this problem. You said, didn't even know existed, and most of the world, I'm sure, doesn't know that it existed. I'm curious, when you entered various countries, were you openly welcomed? Did you face some, you know, some restrictions as you went, or how is, how was growing days for girls into these varied countries and cultures,

Unknown: 7:49

we have responded to requests to come to the next place. We have, in some communities, people who were already serving their have brought days for girls, kits and the education, and then if they're welcomed and asked to return and asked to build local leadership through people that live there, then that was the next step. So it's always kind of by invitation and the remarkable global network of volunteers, it's been here's the education, here's the way to replicate it, here's the way to continue. So it's been really an amazing dynamic of trust and and also listening, because we had to listen to what they need, what's working, what's not working. Days for girls, pads have been through 31 iterations. We will hold two patents for the genius of listening to those we serve. And so a huge piece of it has been really recognizing that everyone everywhere has immense wisdom, and it's from all different viewpoints. And that's a powerful thing. So instead of coming in and saying, we have the solution, it's been, is this something you need? How does this work for you? Please report back, and it's been this incredible evolution of beautiful curriculum and and patterns that truly work and are proving up to last up to seven years. So truly amazing byproduct of listening and honoring the wisdom of those who serve and serve with,

Erin Geiger: 9:23

Wow, incredible. And when you say you were educating the girls right on this and how to how to take care of their bodies, you mentioned the community so were other is it sort of like generational education as well, like did you were you also educating any moms that were involved or other female figures within the community in addition to the girls?

Unknown: 9:48

Yes, that's really important to invite them in as well whenever possible. And truthfully, to remember the teachers need them to the people that are kicking the meals need them too. And and. To also, again, make it part of the community and held by the community, not an outside thing that comes once in a while, that can be held within the community itself. That's been truly important, not always the easy way, by any measure, but truly important, because when you literally have menstruation is one of the great taboos in our whole world. The word taboo comes from the islands where it meant two things, untouchable and also so sacred and powerful it shouldn't be touched so both. But as a world, response is tipped to this untouchableness, and so it is just that it really needs to be the community having the discussion. And that's what our curriculum and our invitations have all been about. Not coming in and saying you're doing it wrong, but coming in and saying, is this something you would like to engage in? Let's do this together.

Erin Geiger: 10:59

Yeah, kind of like locking arms together. No, that's smart. Yeah. So speaking of taboo, you have previously talked about a surprisingly taboo question that changed the direction of your life. So can you take us back to that moment that you first encountered that question, and what did it stir up inside of you? I'm curious.

Unknown: 11:19

You know, it's so there's such a visceral response to not only menstruation, honestly. Do you know, in surveys two years ago in Canada, people would rather talk to their doctors about STDs than menstruation, which is like, wow, right? And that is changing. But the other pieces about education, about our bodies in general, there's been so much fear about it and and as if we have to manipulate it or make it in our flip charts, we have to call sexual things how babies happen, not because the children won't and the youth won't get it, but because the teachers will be like, you can't talk about that. And the truth is, our bodies are amazing, and they work in beautiful ways, and it is miraculous. And if we could shift from fear of basic biology to celebration of the remarkable way our bodies work, that is a huge shift for all of us, and really, that's what dates for girls is doing, for the volunteers, for the communities, for the girls themselves, for the families, is inviting everyone to look at it as a beautiful connection to all of us again, because without periods, there would be no people. So this is actually one beautiful superpower that connects us all.

Erin Geiger: 12:44

Yeah, I mean, it just, it's, I'll say it again. I'm just in so in awe of this. Like, how and especially now with all the turmoil going on in the world, like, how do you think periods and and broadly, women's bodies have been they've been such powerful sites of control, silence, taboo, as you say. So why do you why do you think that? Like, what is the emphasis of that?

Unknown: 13:13

Pretty remarkable, isn't it? Yeah, when you look back at it and go, How did we do that? May maybe flip it. Well, I do think it's because of not having ways to manage it, except for isolation, right? If you didn't have a really good way to manage it, you would have accidents. There would be things that would frighten people. Everything we associate with blood is illness and injury. So it makes a lot of sense, and this is why I think it's such a powerful opportunity for all of us, if we can, for instance, look at the conveyor belt at the grocery store. You know, that belt that you put the things on, and imagine putting toilet tissue on it, how do you feel. And imagine putting period products on it, how do you feel, and if there's any difference in how you feel, measure, where did that come from? And could I make a new decision? Because if we all decide actually that's an amazing, beautiful, remarkable superpower, and we choose the flip side of taboo, the really powerful, beautiful thing, and we feel that in our guts, then it will shift. It won't just shift to we're okay with it. It will be recognizing, again, the remarkable beauty of how our bodies work. It's incredible. So if we could all embrace that ourselves and invite the people around us to go, what are we afraid of? Where did that come from? I'm not doing that. Then we literally, you and I and everyone we know can be the equivalent of the suffragettes. We can be the generation where the fear stopped and shift to celebration so powerful.

Erin Geiger: 14:56

I mean, what you have like a first row. See to this like, what does it look like when you see women and girls, they're essentially reclaiming authority over their bodies and their stories at the same time. So what does that look like to you? You know, when you see it happen,

Unknown: 15:13

it's been so beautiful. I was once in Zimbabwe, a place where, at the time, you couldn't talk about it at all, not your aunt, not your mother, and and everyone was gathering, and we were, you know, they knew the agenda, and they knew we were about to talk about periods. There were two men in this room, one from the Ministry of Education. All the women are looking back at them, and there's this here, and the guys were getting uncomfortable. And then the gentleman from the Ministry of Education walked to the front rooms and may I speak, and he said, You know, I never knew about this. I have a wife, I have a mother, but I didn't know about this until a runner came to us and had objected to she'd been kicked out of school because she refused to race because she had nothing for her period, and so they beat her, and she still refused to race. They had threatened to take her out of school. She still refused to race. And when I asked why, they said, because of her period, and he said, her, what? Because of her menstruation, her what? He said, I am an educated man, but I did not know of this because we do not speak of it. It is time for us to speak of it. And when we talked about, actually, you have this amazing muscle in your body called the uterus, and this is how it's all working. And so the next time it's happening, instead of being fearful or limited, not being able to do, what if you inside said, Without what I'm doing right now none of you would even exist. And I laughed. Mind you, it's being translated to two languages, but I kind of chuckled, waiting for a chuckle, but a chuckle did not happen. All of the shoulders in the room, like in a wave went, and I watched this relief that's to this day is is just remarkably powerful to have been in that moment with that when that happened and and over and over again, we've seen examples of how much it means to release a belief that you are lesser than in Nepal, there's been a practice called chopati That you're not allowed to be in your home, or even the pathway to the home. You're in a dugout or under the house, in the crawl space, or you're in elevated platform because you're on your period, and it's believed you could cause harm and curses to your family. So to protect them, you remove yourself from them. And so watching those communities, what can it be like if you recognize you can make a new choice, have the strength of your community and use ritually cleanse these pads instead of isolating? What would that mean? And I remember the moment a woman said, then we will be free. Wow, it's really powerful, not only to have what you need, but to recognize that your basic biology is not making you untouchable. Your basic biology isn't making you lesser than your basic biology is remarkable.

Erin Geiger: 18:19

Yeah, I mean, it's so true. And it's like, you've said, like, hormones, they're working for us, not against us, you know? And it's like, I mean, what would change globally, like, if everybody truly believed that? Like, how powerful that would be, right?

Unknown: 18:36

It's true. So that starts with us, this conversation, truly to embrace that for ourselves.

Erin Geiger: 18:44

Yeah, did you immediately understand the scope of what you were stepping into? Did it unfold one step at a time? Yeah, yeah, not at all.

Unknown: 18:54

In fact, when I got home, I when the book came out, I ran into a woman at a conference who was there the very beginning, at the very beginning, when it was just us getting ready for the 500 girls and I, we ran to each other, and I said, you know what's happened with days for girls at the time we were just about at 3 million reach she said, you're kidding. And then she said, you know, we thought you were crazy. And this is someone that was there from the beginning, and that was a belief that it was crazy to think that could be important outside of that single space, and then to run into people that were like, oh, I want you to come speak. I've heard amazing things about your speaking, and then to call back, oh, I just heard what you speak about. So we don't need you to come right, to have to have that shift to being invited to speak in front of 40,000 people at a time, has been beautiful to watch as that opens up. But it's not everyone. It's the ones courageous enough to say, Oh no, no, no, we're not doing that. We're we're actually leaning in. It's been so beautiful to watch that shift. And from the beginning, it wasn't us going to now we're going. To go here, but rather following the invitations, keeping the door open, inviting. So I would say one of the superpowers of days for girls has been inviting, instead of telling, including instead of shaming, and really stepping into each advance with the power of we, with people coming along, instead of intentionally starting a movement, that that wasn't it. If there were just those first 10 girls you could say no to being abused, who could go to class, this would have all been worth it for me. It just happens because many, many, many, remarkable people, men, women, girls, boys, everybody came together, and now it's really close to 4 million.

Erin Geiger: 20:49

That's, you know, I feel like you've, you've built this trusting that the next step you don't see it, you know, or you see the next, you know, and it's like, or the whole path, you know, you just kind of keep going. So was that trust natural for you? Is it something you had to learn? Maybe the hard way that come about

Unknown: 21:13

question, I think to do any of this, I had to have that faith that you know, this is where I'm supposed to be and what I'm supposed to be doing. Even if people said that's ridiculous, that can be done. I remember we were with the first board of days for girls. We were getting together to plan a new strategy. We had a consultant there, and she's she said, So what's your big goal? And I said, Well, I think to have 20 chapters and and she said, Well, okay, there you go. That'd be good. How many do you have now? One? And she goes, Okay, let's, let's go back to Measurable, Achievable things, right? And what about what else I said? I think, I think every girl everywhere, period, she's like, okay, okay, let's go back to measurable and achievable. But to me, at that moment, we put up these big white sticky sheets, you know, and everybody had markers, and we said, let's just say it's 10 years from now, and we have reached hundreds and hundreds of 1000s, even millions. How did we do that? Who did we talk to? What did we do? What kind of things led more people to find us and how to.