In this week’s episode, we feature Wendy Simakoma from Zambia. Wendy is the Founder and Executive Director of She Moves, a Youth led organization focusing on empowering girls and women in the community with essential products and knowledge they need while menstruating.

Q: What does SHE MOVES represent?

A:SHE MOVES is a representation of strength, dignity and resilience. An organization created to stand in solidarity with girls and women who are often left behind by society and systems.

Q: What inspired you to found SHE MOVES?

A: Beyond every household is a young girl who may be silently struggling, a girl who feels she is not worthy, a girl who stays hidden because she cannot afford menstrual products, or a girl who simply does not have anyone to guide her through her first period.

I have seen how something as natural as menstruation can become a source of shame, fear, isolation and loss of dignity.

I think about the girl in a rural community who begins bleeding and has no one to help her understand what is happening or manage her period with dignity and confidence. I think about the girl who is told that she is unclean because she is menstruating, the girl who is forced to stay hidden, and the girl who cannot access the basic menstrual products and information she needs.

These realities deeply moved me.

They made me ask: Why should menstruation determine whether a girl feels worthy, confident and included? Why should poverty take away her dignity? And why should something that is a normal part of growing up be surrounded by so much silence and shame?

Those questions became the beginning of my journey.

Q: Is SHE MOVES simply about distributing menstrual pads?

A: No. SHE MOVES was never meant to be only about distributing pads.

I wanted to contribute to changing the conversation around menstruation. I wanted girls to have access not only to menstrual products, but also to knowledge, confidence, support and a safe space to ask questions about their bodies.

Q: Who should be involved in conversations about menstrual health?

A: Menstrual health should not be treated as a conversation only for women and girls.

Boys and men have a role to play. Parents, teachers, communities, policymakers and institutions all have a role to play.

If we want to end menstrual stigma, we must create a society where menstruation can be discussed openly and respectfully by everyone.

Q: What does SHE MOVES do?

A: Through SHE MOVES, we provide menstrual health and hygiene education, awareness and menstrual products, particularly in communities where access and information remain limited.

We are also interested in advocacy, community engagement and developing solutions that can address the deeper barriers surrounding menstrual health.

Q: How do you balance immediate menstrual needs with long-term sustainable solutions?

A: One of the lessons I have learned through this journey is that we cannot separate immediate needs from long-term solutions.

If a girl needs a menstrual pad today, we cannot tell her to wait for the perfect sustainable solution tomorrow.

At the same time, we must continue exploring affordable, reusable and environmentally responsible menstrual solutions that communities can access in the long term.

For me, sustainability does not mean abandoning girls who need support today. It means finding ways to meet today's needs while building better solutions for tomorrow.

Q: What has founding SHE MOVES taught you personally?

A: Founding SHE MOVES has challenged me personally as a young leader. It has taught me that creating change requires more than passion.

It requires consistency, courage, partnerships, learning from communities and being willing to have uncomfortable conversations.

Q: What challenges still remain?

A: There are still many challenges ahead. Menstrual poverty, stigma, lack of information, inadequate facilities and limited access to menstrual products continue to affect many girls and women.

But I believe that challenges are not a reason to remain silent. They are a reason to organize, advocate and build.

Q: What does SHE MOVES mean to you?

A: For me, SHE MOVES is more than an organization.

It is a movement.

A movement that says a girl should not miss school because she is menstruating.

A movement that says no girl should feel ashamed of her body.

A movement that says boys and men can be part of the solution.

A movement that says menstrual health deserves a place in conversations about health, education, equality, dignity and human rights.

Q: What is your vision for the future?

A: My vision is simple: a world where menstruation is understood, dignity is protected, and no girl is left behind because of her period.

I want to see girls growing up with accurate information about their bodies, communities having open conversations about menstrual health, and young women having the confidence to advocate for themselves and others.

Q: What keeps you going?

A: I know I cannot change everything alone. But I believe change begins when someone is willing to ask an uncomfortable question and then take the first step toward an answer.

For me, that first step was SHE MOVES.

And I will continue to move, until every girl knows that her period does not make her less worthy, less capable or less deserving of opportunities.

This is why I continue to move.

This is why SHE MOVES.