SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Dozens of Mira Loma High School students gathered around a table at their campus quad Monday to pick up free snacks and menstrual products, while sharing their thoughts on how their school could better support them.
The booth was organized by Titilope Olotu, a 2023 graduate of Mira Loma who is also the founder of Period Padi, a nonprofit that caters to menstrual needs. The word "wellnest" was used prominently throughout the booth, a play on the word "wellness" to depict the sense of nurturing within a nest, according to Olotu.
Under her organization, Olotu started the My Padi initiative, which focuses on creating dedicated wellness areas within schools that address both menstrual and mental health needs. For her, the work is driven by her personal experiences. As a first-generation Nigerian American woman, she said she grew up fearing menstrual periods.
"Menstruation is not something that was talked about a lot. It was sort of like a stigma," Olotu said.
So when she immigrated to America and got her first period, she didn't know who to go to or where to go.
Olotu launched Period Padi in October 2023 to ensure other girls wouldn't go through the same experience. Her project started with mobilizing resources and donations locally, such as journals and menstrual pads, and delivering them to young girls in Nigeria as the country was and continues to face its worst economic crisis in decades.
"We've been able to help over 620 Nigerian girls, which we think is really amazing. And upon reflecting on that, I realized that with a lot of our events, we sort of had to mix in the educational aspect of what menstruation was in addition to providing resources," Olotu said.
California has taken steps to increase access to menstrual products. In October 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Menstrual Equity for All Act into law, which requires public schools with grades 6-12 and colleges to provide free menstrual products in restrooms. However, Olotu said there's still more work to be done.
"There's still that lack or disparity [when it comes to] pushing menstruation awareness and wellness. That's in terms of asking like, 'How are you feeling? How can we support you?'" Olotu said.
Beyond that, Olotu said the supply of menstrual products in schools is not always guaranteed, which can lead to other potential issues.
"The toilet paper in the bathrooms. Sometimes you do not have access to pads and the only thing you can do is sort of use, you know, paper towels. And paper towels are very thin and very uncomfortable. So imagine, you know, sort of cramping and going through that menstrual discomfort and having to resort to using other products," Olotu said.
Many of Olotu's personal concerns were also echoed by hundreds of other students. Just last month, Olotu conducted a survey with more than 200 current and former high school students from different schools, including at Mira Loma High School, to better understand the issues they continue to face and school resources they would benefit from.
"It's all about trying to create that safe space (so) students don't go to school every day without that security," Olotu said.
Olotu hopes that by setting an example of what a wellness booth and area could look like, other schools and districts will follow suit.
"It's a call to action for students, for schools to really take the initiative. My ultimate goal would be for every high school in California to recognize a wellness area of some sort," she said.
And as Olotu explained, those wellness areas won't always look the same.
"Each wellness area is tailored to the school's needs, right? The wellness area for Mira Loma might not be the same as El Camino," Olotu said. "There is a huge immigrant population, especially at Mira Loma. And a lot of them come from a very traditional background where menstruation is a stigma, right? Mental health is a stigma. So I think that really recognizing that and supporting that is important."
Separately, Olotu is also working on an app that would provide resources by region and divide menstrual and mental resources and hotlines.
