Sandra de Araújo is a former female Chief of Village at Leorema, one of the villages in Liquicá, Timor-Leste. 50-year-old Sandra comes from a big family and is the twelfth child of 13 siblings and is a mother of three daughters and one son.
She is a strong, influential leader with a lot of experience in conflict resolution. During her four years as village leader she was involved in campaigning to end violence against women, installing clean water extraction, electricity and road construction. She also supported with building the Leobali community tourism spot and the technical vocational school. She is now focussed on developing a family business.
“My first period came during the Indonesian occupation. At that time, it was very difficult to move from the village to the city to get pads. So I just used a towel to manage my menstruation at that time. The towel was very helpful because we can use it and we can wash and use it at another time.”
— Sandra de Araújo
“My first period came during the Indonesian occupation. At that time, it was very difficult to move from the village to the city to get pads. So I just used a towel to manage my menstruation at that time. The towel was very helpful because we can use it and we can wash and use it at another time.”
— Sandra de Araújo
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“I feel empowered by hearing mana Sandra’s story and it makes me feel like I can share my thoughts and the experience that I have had with menstruation. This video is going to be very powerful to help eradicate the stigmas and taboos surrounding menstruation. I hope that it reaches a lot of people, particularly men and those in power, to increase their awareness, normalise the conversation and to help influence policy change, especially in regard to disposal of menstrual pads.”
Marlinda Jeronimo | Team Lead
“I was proud and heard to be a part of the production of the video about menstruation. When I first hear mana Sandra’s story I was shocked because her experience was so different to what it is like now where we have products available for us to use. I hope everyone can watch this video to find out about menstruation, so that it doesn’t feel like something that we shouldn’t talk about and that it’s not taboo. I particularly hope that men also watch it because menstruation is a normal thing that women have every month."
Zahra Sagran | Camera Assistant & Sound Operator
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