We are WOW

By: Catherine Wang, Liza McGilpin, and Sarah Kaplan

On Nov. 16, WOW members made Thanksgiving cards for La Casa de Las Madres, a San-Francisco-based non-profit organization that advocates for survivors of domestic violence.

The beginning (2016)

Women of the World (WOW) Club’s story starts with then-freshman Celine Wen. Wen was first inspired to begin this cause when she immigrated from Beijing and arrived in the streets of San Francisco, known for its large unhoused population.

“As someone who's struggled with period problems, the first random thought that popped into my head was, ‘How did those homeless women on the streets deal with their period every month?’” Wen said. “[How did] they … choose between food and hygiene products with their limited financial resources?”

She started to tackle those questions by walking around downtown and interviewing unhoused women.

“I realized that the number of people who had periods was fewer than I thought,” Wen said. “Some of them didn't have periods because of drug use or emotional stress and depression.”

Wen realized how widespread period poverty was in her community, and as a freshman, she took the initiative to be a helping hand to these unhoused women. Using her own money and with her parents as drivers, Wen bought hygiene supplies and donated them to the Samaritan House.

“If I wanted to make it long term, there's no way I could do it with my own money,” Wen said. “So then I started reaching out to the community. I would go to Hillsborough community dinners and I would ask for the mic and tell everyone, including the Hillsborough mayor, that I have my own project and if they can donate to me.”

Networking and asking for donations were daunting tasks at first.

“It was just myself and it was extremely nerve-wracking,” Wen said. “But slowly I got used to it. I made posters that made my project seem more legit and had more sources of collecting money through online and in-person cash.”

Starting the club (2017)

As she expanded her project, Wen decided to integrate her idea into the Aragon High School community.

“I wanted to create a club at school and at first it was just finding three of my closest friends and asking them if they could support me along the way,” Wen said. “And they're like, ‘Yeah I care about women too, why not?’”

One of the club’s projects involved trips to San Francisco to observe and record the needs of the unhoused people living in the area. These trips were eye-opening and made the bonds between club members even stronger.

“Because it's so sketchy in the Tenderloin District, where most homeless people were, we recruited fathers of the club members,” Wen said. “It was like six female club members and we were feeling unsafe. We did experience some sketchy things like people on drugs following us or taunting us.”

But the members were soon met with crowds that asked for different resources, ranging from clothes to hygiene supplies. As a result, the club devised a system to maximize their circle of help.

Left picture: Tiffany Lin (left), Celine Wen (center), Allison Li (right)

“We had people recording what they said they wanted, because, for example, we would be giving out pads and tampons and … a woman [would ask] for toothpaste and socks since it’s so cold at night in San Francisco. So then we recorded those knowing that next time they need more of those.”

These experiences also helped to shed light on the lives of unhoused people and highlighted how society often dehumanizes these marginalized groups of people.

“You could ask someone if they prefer pads or tampons, and they would tell you a lot about their background story, about how some people actually pursued like medical school all the way,” Wen said. “But because of one family hardship, their life completely turned around, and now they're on the streets with drug addiction.”

Operations during the pandemic (2020-21)

COVID-19 eliminated in-person trips and activities carried out by the club, causing WOW to focus more on research and online outreach. By using interview transcriptions and findings during the San Francisco trips, Wen led club members to write a report paper together titled “Homeless Women in the Bay Area: How Society Can Better Accommodate Their Menstrual Struggles.” It was a daunting task, but after splitting up different sections among 19 members and working for several months, the result was an 18-page report.

WOW also partnered with PERIOD, a non-profit youth organization that works on "eradicating period poverty and period stigma through service, education and advocacy." They generously donated over 2000 pads and tampons, which WOW distributed to the Samaritan House in San Mateo.

Now that the club can be in-person this year, members look forward to expanding their efforts and doing more diverse tasks.

Goals for 2021-22

Junior Veda Yama was elected as WOW’s new president this year.

“The lack of access to menstrual hygiene products is … deeply upsetting,” Yama said. “It’s something that I’ve seen be problematic in my middle school and now … in high school. I can only imagine that it’s much much worse for those who don’t even have access to schools or are living on the streets. I thought that the club [and its mission] was incredibly powerful and that it helped members find their own voice and effect change in the community.”

Yama explained some of her hopes and plans for new and returning members of the club.

“I think that this year, as we’ve already started doing, I want to give club members the chance to pick what they want to do and explore their own strengths and be able to use those strengths to effect change,” Yama said. “So the focus on this year is empowering club members.”

As Women of the World enters its fourth year, the club has created a new goal of strengthening its social media and online presence to increase outreach and awareness. Thus, the club was split into three teams: outreach, social media, and website/blogging. Each one requires specific skills and passions, and each of the officers, in addition to their current titles, leads the teams.

Junior and treasurer China Porter is WOW’s social media manager.

“We have been working on getting some drafts out right now,” Porter said. “But we're hoping to increase the amount of posting two to three times a week. [We want to focus] on posts surrounding good organizations and a lot of people who have helped with period advocacy. Also, general information that kind of goes under the rug when periods are talked about in classes and books.”

Yama is in charge of the outreach team and is supported by sophomore and vice president Katie Rau. The team writes emails and finds new connections and volunteer opportunities that are helpful to the club’s cause. Meanwhile, the website and blogging team, led by junior and secretary Catherine Wang, increases the club’s publicity and shares its achievements. In addition to maintaining an accessible and engaging website, the team hopes to consistently create blog posts that detail the club’s activities and interview other advocates and experts that learn more about the homeless crisis.

Due to the COVID-19 precautions, organizing club meetings has been more challenging.

“It’s definitely a challenge [having meetings] on the tennis courts and not really having access to classrooms and lunchtime is kind of short, but I think that people have adapted really well,” Yama said. “I’m happy with our club membership and having people work outside of club time to make up the work they can’t [finish] here.”

Meet some of the club members!

Eesha Gupta (sophomore, outreach team)

What compelled you to join WOW club?

I joined WOW club because I wanted to help address the inequities that I have seen in the world. Also, as a woman, I empathize with those that struggle to obtain period products. I want to do whatever I can to help others in my community.

What are you looking forward to this year and why?

I’m looking forward to working with a great group of people and learning more about the struggles that people in the Bay Area face, and most importantly, how to help solve them.

Purvi Singhania (junior, website and blogging team)

What aspects of WOW club made you want to join it again? What was it like last year as a club member?

I wanted to join WOW club again because I think the problem that this club is trying to address is really important that many people aren’t even aware of. Also, since last year was online, we weren’t able to do as much as members had done in previous years, so I was curious to see what else we would be doing in person.

What are you looking forward to this year and why?

It was a little difficult to do clubs in an online environment, but the club officers worked hard to adjust and still be able to do activities on Zoom. I enjoyed being a part of this club last and learning more facts about the struggles of homeless women during the meetings.

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There are many more exciting things that are coming, so make sure to subscribe to never miss a blog post, follow us on Instagram @aragonwowclub, and spread the word of our cause!