Aminio David is a 41-year-old male advocate from Pango Village, Shefa province, in Vanuatu. He is a well-known local figure and role model in Port Vila. Aminio is a father of three girls and works in the Vanuatu Cultural Centre to protect and preserve the custom and culture of Vanuatu.
Aminio is responsible for more than nine programmes, including: coordinating the Vanuatu Indigenous Land Defence desk, which is a programme to ensure the indigenous people of Vanuatu are entitled and own their cultural land, language, custom knowledge of the land that make up the identity of Vanuatu; the Vanuatu Slow Food programme, which has become a big attraction for the tourism industry and includes the Slow Food Festival which happens around the country; as well as bio cultural activities that include research on traditions and cultures that are slowly dying in the country and finding ways to revive them.
He is an outspoken voice on menstrual health and we are proud to have him as the only male storyteller in the Pacific Period Stories campaign.
“To normalise the conversation around menstruation, I believe that we need to educate young boys especially at an early age, so that they grow up to respect women when they are on their period. Not being afraid to talk about menstruation amongst us men is important. I have been able to welcome this idea and insert it into the work that I do, and I encourage men with daughters to start to speak openly about menstruation.”
— Aminio David