Eind mei verscheen er een interview van Ashley en schoonzus Olivia met VeronicaBeard.com, als onderdeel van hun blog #MakeItHappen. Hiervoor hadden ze een fotoshoot met Kate Jones

Galerij Links:
http//: Kate Jones

#MAKEITHAPPEN
Menstrual Health Advocates Ashley Greene Khoury, Olivia Khoury & Melissa Berton

Imagine having to use newspapers or old rags when you have your period. Now imagine being ostracized for even having a period—your education is halted, you’re stigmatized by society, and made to feel “dirty” or less than during that time of the month.
Sadly, this is the reality for many low-income communities. Without access to basic sanitation services and reproductive education, girls and women around the world—including here in the U.S.—face these harrowing hardships, oftentimes with acceptance.
That’s where The Pad Project comes in. The nonprofit dedicates itself to ending period stigma and ensuring access to period care for all, working with school districts and grassroots organizations to distribute period products in thirteen states in the U.S., and supporting reproductive education workshops, pad machine enterprises, and washable pad programs in twelve countries around the world—because no girl should have to drop out of school because she lacks access to affordable and hygienic menstrual supplies. “A period should end a sentence, not a girl’s education,” says founder Melissa Berton, who also produced the 2018 Academy Award-winning documentary, Period. End of Sentence., which started the global conversation about menstrual equity.

Berton isn’t doing this alone. Actress Ashley Greene Khoury and her sister-in-law, stylist Olivia Khoury, are co-founders of Hummingway, the hormonal health brand, which frequently partners with The Pad Project to amplify its message. “I find it insane that our periods are the key factor in the creation of life, yet has become a burden for so many,” says Greene Khoury. “Everyone deserves to go throughout their lives with dignity and equal rights. No one’s life should be interrupted or have opportunities suppressed by their menstrual cycle.”
“We have been programmed by the patriarchy to think that our pain is normal, marketed Midol all our lives to believe that we have to get up and go, when in reality our period is a time for restoration and softening. It is a time to go inwards,” adds Khoury, whose company addresses whole cycle wellness—and the tools, education, and community that come with it. Their Cycle Soother Patches, for instance, focuses on the root cause of your pain, working with your body instead of against it.
Here, in honor of Menstrual Hygiene Day on May 28, we speak with all three women on what set them on their path, what keeps them going— even in the face of obstacles—and why menstrual equality matters.
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Ashley heeft een fotoshoot door Suki Smith gehad om moedersdag te promoten voor OurHummingway.

Galerij Links:
http//: Suki Smith

Preparing for motherhood: entering into the land unknown, by Ashley Greene Khoury
Our co-founder Ashley Greene Khoury reveals her journey to pregnancy, her emotions and body literacy as she prepares for motherhood.

Everything I’ve done up until this point has prepared me for what’s to come.
The last time I wrote an article for Hummingway, it was to share my experience of transitioning off hormonal birth control. This time, I am writing about the even bigger transition that will take me into motherhood. I went into this pregnancy with the clear understanding that my experience will be unique to me, and that it’s ok that I’ll be learning as I go.

I’ve really tried to avoid comparing myself to others in any fashion throughout this pregnancy and have leaned heavily on my doctor to give me the peace of mind that all is progressing the way it should. So, before I dive into my pregnancy experience, please keep in mind that each of our experiences will likely differ in numerous ways, and that’s ok.

Perhaps it’s the extra hormones (potentially leading to an increase in uterine blood flow) produced during pregnancy, or perhaps it just hasn’t all hit me yet – but so far I’ve taken my pregnancy day by day – with little anxiety. Yes, I have an occasional doubt or fear, but mostly I have a mix of excitement, calm and an uncertainty (one that I’ve accepted) about what the future holds. My main focus has been on keeping myself healthy, both mentally and physically, through nutrition, fitness and meditation, so that I feel centered enough to accept the rapid changes happening currently and those to come in the future. I think my biggest hurdle to face so far has been accepting the fact that my work life will have to make way for something – someone – more important. I love working, it really brings me joy, so this adjustment has thrown me off a bit. Although I’m fully aware that this will be the least of my worries come the fourth trimester.
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