Name: Vrindavani Avila
Age: 23
Hometown: Sequoia National Park, CA
Current location: Los Angeles, CA
Occupation: Nanny/Student/Glass Blower/Community Activist
Interests: humanitarian issues, especially within womyns health. art, creativity, politics, mynstruation!
Dreams: To build my own home, fully sustainable, have my own organic herb and vegetable garden, to get off the grid, to create sculptures from refurbished materials.

How long have you used reusable menstrual products?: Since 2008-2009

Reason for making the switch to reusables: I was taking a class on feminism and pop culture, and came across articles and stories of these cups and pads, that womyn made and advocated. I felt so empowered that I had to try it myself, and it was around the time that I was becoming aware of waste, sustainability, organic food, etc. After the first months, I was hooked! I talked to my friends, family, men and womyn about reusables! I still do! I hold workshops at schools, gardens, and at homes about these products!

Funny anecdotes, deep thoughts, or anything else you’d like to share:  Coming into this Mynstrual Activism, and becoming more liberated from the industrialization of womyns bodies, I realized how important it is to share our experiences as womyn with our loved ones, friends, and soon to be friends. To understand that we are not alone with our thoughts and experiences of trauma due to the medicalization of our vaginas, and the politics surrounding our uterus'. We need to come out from the shadows and realize these corporations that are focused on womyn, hurt us, and don't heal us. We need to become independent from this culture that silences our voices.  I realized how much I want to continue my work on health and mynstrual activism in the communities of color, especially in Los Angeles. This information is vital to the people of color communities, as a womyn of color, I witness the deprivation of knowledge in my lower income neighbors, and we are starve and strive for new information, just as the more affluent communities do.
I am working with The Shodhini Institute to educate womyn, Masculine of Center womyn(Moc), transmen, and gender non-conforming individuals. Developing our own radical health and sex education with a holistic self-help foundation.
We need to unite with all womyn around the world. And it could start with a cup, pad, or a sponge and a conversation.