What is a Diva Cup?

Hello,
April here. Ok, I am hoping that all of you will stick with me on this post - even you men. I am writing this post because I firmly feel that it can have positive effects on the amounts of trash each woman produces while also creating positive quality of life impacts. Remember, I am a Community Environmental Conservation (CEC) volunteer in Peace Corps and you are a part of my community - distant, but part of my community.

When we think of menstration (which we would rather not think about I know...but stick with me for a minute)...we think about PMS, cramps, chocolate and wish that it was over already. In a couple of days it is over and we forget about it again for 20 some days. But we never think of how long our week long menstral cycle really impacts our environment.

Did you know:

• In a woman's lifetime, she is likely to use 15,000 sanitary pads or tampons....this is 250-300lbs of trash.
  
• According to the National Women's Health Network, annually more than twelve billion pads and seven million tampons are used once and disposed of. (Yes, there are reusable pads.)


• Plastic parts of pads and tampons (like tampon applicators) may not biodegrade for several hundred years.


• Most of this trash dwells in our trash dumps, but not all. Plastic tampon applicators from sewage outfalls are one of the most common forms of trash on beaches. According to the Center for Marine Conservation, more than 170,000 tampon applicators were collected along U.S. coastal areas between 1998 and 1999.
  

So, I am not using pads or tampons anymore. Nope...no more.

No pads, no tampons....what are you using?

I have switched over to using a menstral cup. It is a soft silicon or natural rubber cup that is inserted into the vagina much like a tampon or diaphram. Menstral cups have been around since the 1930s and are used in many parts of the world...but they are not widely known in the USA. They do exist in the USA; for example, the female scientists of Biosphere 2 chose a menstral cup as their form of feminine hygiene while in their enclosed environment in Arizona in 1992.

I switched over to a menstral cup about a year before coming to Peace Corps. I figured at the time that tampons would be hard to find while in Peace Corps (I was right...they are much harder to find here in Panama.) I liked the idea of something reusable that I didn´t have to worry about running out of.

At the time I didn´t know anyone else who used one (I now know one other woman who uses them and feels as positive as I do). I was out and experimenting on my own without knowing if I was crazy to try this. I had to order it through the mail. Later, our local health food store started to stock them...so getting a second backup one to bring to Peace Corps was easier (thus I don´t have to worry about getting another if I drop one down a laterine). After not knowing anyone who used one I was suprised to feel that the switch to using a menstral cup was the best thing I ever did (menstrally anyway).

Even if the trash was not an important issue to my enviromentalist's heart I would still be using the Diva Cup that I own...I like it better than any other option. Beyond being reusable, I find that menstral cups have many advantages over pads or tampons including:

• Less leaking and fear of leaks
• Less need to change, fiddle with, or deal with menstral issues (cups are emptied typically 1-2 times a day)
• Less need to deal with menstral issues in public bathrooms (because the cup is emptied only 1-2 times a day I have the power to pick when and where I deal with it)
• Less odor
• Comfortable...like a tampon but without the dry feeling.
• Less risk of Toxic Shock Syndrome - there is currently no known link of TSS to menstral cups
• No trash to carry around the bathroom (or woods -important to a hiker)
  or flush (less chance of plumbing problems)
• No menstral supplies in my pocket or purse
• No tampons accidently going through the washer
• No more running out of tampons or wondering if I should carry more with me

For those of you out there who are not swayed by any of the above, here is another thought for you. Money. The average menstral cup should last years with only minimal care. Imagine 5 or more years not going down the pad isle in the supermarket (or having to talk your guy into going down it for you)!

If you spend $4.00 a month on pads/tampons now X 60 months = $240.00

If you just buy (for $35) and use a menstral cup $240.00 - $35.00 = $205.00 Savings!

As far as I can tell, there are two companies making menstral cups for the USA market: The Keeper and Diva Cup. I own one from each company and they are more or less the same (Diva cups are a little easier to find and what I would recommend). I would recommend a silicon cup over a natural rubber one though (looks and smells cleaner).

More information, including FAQs and testimonials, can be found at:

http://www.divacup.com/

http://www.lunapads.com/department.aspx?DeptId=4&

http://www.keeper.com/index.html


If you are thinking of trying one and have specific questions about them you want answered first just ask. I would be happy to answer honestly and completly. I know that menstral cups are not the answer for everyone. Like tampons, they do take a certain amount of comfort with your own body...but I think that the vast majority of us women are capable of that (if we can just stop listening to all the companies that make money by convicing us that menstration is icky).

I know that you might think that I am a bit weird for writing this post, but for me it is the environmental message that will give me the courage to click "publish post". I hope you too will find the courage to talk to your friends about this subject (even if you have to start off by telling them how far off the deep end your friend in Peace Corps has gone as the starter for the conversation). If this gets even one woman to try a menstral cup the embarassment I feel in sharing this will be worth it.


Thanks for reading.
April

Phones in Panama (number change!)

(Just a quick update, but definately read the entire post to know about phones in Panama if you haven't: April got in touch with the guy who had the chip from our phone, and managed to get it back. So, we don't have the physical phone, but we do have the chip, and thus the phone number. It is normally easy to swap chips between phones in the same system, but the new phone we bought ironically glued the chip in. So for the foreseeable future, we'll be using the new number. Once we get another phone for the old chip, we'll post to let you know.)

It is my fault...I lost our cell phone the other day. I think it fell out of my pocket on a bus. Some lucky Panamanian is now using it (or so say the people who have called us) and does not seem tempted by my offer of a reward for its return. Replacing the phone wasn't too bad, just $15. It is the loss of all the info in the phone that really hurts.

So our new number is: 011-507-6639-1352

Yes it has one more digit than numbers in the USA. It is free for us to recieve phone calls, so we welcome calls when we have suficiant battery. We have week to medium phone signal the majority of the time, but we sometimes turn off the phone during the daytime to save battery. The phone is almost always on between 4-9pm (we are one hour behind EST right now because you wierdos have DST). If you want to call, we recommend looking for a prepaid international calling card for a cheeper rate.

While we are talking phones I may as well explain the phone system here...in brief of course. There is a land phone system in urban areas...getting one installed into your house is possible but effort and cost intensive. Pay phone use is more common than home phones in most urban areas and there are only pay phones in the country areas. There are many many country communities that do not have cell coverge and only have a single pay phone for the community (and those pay phones are natorious for dying and not being fixed for a long, long time).

Cell phones are common but not cheep by Panamanian standards. To put the following into proper perspective remember that a day's labor here pays between $5-$10, for the day not the hour. You can get a lower end phone for $15...and the options for more expensive phones include everything that you can buy in the USA. Calling cell phone to cell phone is about $.45 a minute for the person who makes the call. Reciving a call is free. Even calling payphone to cell phone is $.25 a minute so that isn´t cheep too. Text messages are common as are llamada perdidas (hang up calls which is a request for you to call the number that hung up).

Monthly cell phone plans do exist here, but the VAST majority of Panamanian cell phone users use pre-paid cards to "pay as you go" call. The cards differ in the amount of time the money lasts on the card and how much air time you get. For example: a $2 card will get you $2 of time and last only 2 days before the money disappears. A $10 card will last 15 days and is eligable for special deal days that triple or quadruple the value if entered on the right day. A $15 card is always quadrupled no matter when it is entered and lasts 30 days. But few people have the plata (money) to splurge on a big card and take advantage of the savings.

We tend to use roughly one $15 card a month. More at times. Calling the states at $.85 a minute eats calling cards quickly (but a prepaid calling card at a pay phone costs $.05 a minute which is why you tend to hear from us when we are in the noisey city). Thanks to those of you who are willing to call us back at times.

The irony that we never had a cell phone before Peace Corps is not lost on us. Just a warning...there is the possibility that we won't have one after PC either. We are enjoying it now though. Hope to talk to you all soon.

Congratulations to Viking (and Amanda)

This really should come from April, not me, but she is on the island to teach English class on Sunday (and holding down the house against an ant invasion), so I'm posting it for her.

We just found out that Guide Dog #5, Viking, has passed his IFT and is in fact being considered for stud. We only started Viking, turning him over to Amanda Weeks (a puppy raiser in the Baltimore region of Guiding Eyes for the Blind) for finishing, so she really deserves the credit, but we are extremely happy to hear that he is going in for training.

He looks quite a bit bigger than when we last saw him, as this picture from just after his test shows. What a cutie!

Paying the Pilot

Some say the point of traveling internationally is to see new sites, learn languages, or see other cultures. But one of the advantages of living internationally, like in the Peace Corps, is really learning other cultures and changing your perspective so you see things from a new point of view.

Thanks to Elvis, the 12-year-old son of our neighbors, I had a chance to feel that change take place, and it clarified a lot of previous conversations and confusion.

We were sitting on our bench chatting about this and that, food here in the island compared to in Maryland, how supermarkets have everything (at least in Columbia, MD) you could want. And as often happens, talk drifted to how far away Maryland is from Panamá and how long that takes por avion. If I thought it out, I could predict both sides of these conversations; the next question is almost always, "How much does the trip cost?"

My answer is that I'm not sure, I didn't pay for it, Peace Corps did, but I think around $600 (which is sometimes two months income for Elvis' family).

Generally in these discussions, there is a whistle, a nod, and perhaps a slightly confused look, but eventually, acknowledgement that it is caro (expensive) and talk drifts on to other topics.
Elvis, however, was obviously contemplating something that didn't fit with my story. So he asked more questions. It took us a while before I understood, but we finally got there:

When do you pay the pilot?

And the light came on! Here in Panamá, there is an extensive bus system, with frequent and regular rides to and from Panamá City and between provincial capitals, and radiating from there into most small towns. But you don't buy a ticket; for most of them you just get on the bus, and as you get off, you pay the driver directly for the ride.

So from the point of view of a kid who has never seen an airport but has paid the driver numerous times after riding buses and boats, it was amazing to think the pilot would fly all those people that far and not collect money from them when they get off. (I'm sure it was also amazing to him to think I handed the pilot that much money and couldn't remember doing it!)

I thanked Elvis profusely for clarifying the confusion I'd seen on others and for changing my understanding and perspective; it was yet another way the world looks different (in fact, even a different way of looking at the world) in campo Panamá compared to Columbia, MD.

So often, how you look at things is based upon what your past experiences. Thanks to Elvis, how I look at things has been broadened; now I will remember to think about the experiences of the other person and thus how they will see things, and maybe sometimes I'll need to explain a bit more.

Thinking of visiting?

Dear Prospective Travelers,

I know that there are some folks out there that have been batting around the idea of visiting us over the next year and a half...so this post is for you all.

Kevin and I would welcome anyone who wants to visit. I think Panama is a fabulous place. It is beautiful, uses USA currency (no money exchange fees) and you can travel in posh luxury or as cheaply as you would like. Panama is also fairly safe for visitors and offers the security of good hospitals (it is where volunteers from other Central American countries are often sent when they need advanced care).

Visiting a PCV has real advantages over visiting a country on your own...you get an opportunity to get off the normal tourist path and see how the people really live. We PCVs also know about how to travel, the cheep decent hotels, the sites, local culture, and language (I don't offer perfect Spanish...but it is functional). We are excited about our host country and ready to share that excitement with you.

Yes, unfortunately we do have to work while we are in Peace Corps...so we are not intending this to be a "we can drop everything and guide you" invitation. Rather, you are invited to visit and share a moment in our work and life here. We would look to plan work during your visit that you might enjoy seeing or participating in. Depending on when, for how long, and where you wish to go, we can probably take some vacation time to travel with you to visit other parts of Panama.

Here is what we would ask of you:

1. Visitors are welcome between May 15th, 2008 - April 30th, 2009. We set these dates based on giving our selves time to settle in and time to get ready to leave at the end of service.
   
2. Let us know at least 4 weeks in advance of when you want to come....8 weeks is better. Start talking to us about it as soon as you are fairly sure that you intend to try to make the trip.
   
3. Let us know what you are hoping to do while here.
4. Please be flexible, when possible, with your dates, we can't handle a string of three visitors back to back. We must have time to work too.
5. Don´t let the words "rainy season" scare you. 8 months of the year are rainy season. Yes, it rains. But it tends to be rainy only for part of the day and sunny for part of the day. Rain is part of Panama...you didn´t really experience Panama if you didn´t hear an agua cero on a zinc roof.
   

If there is more than a 50% chance that you will really buy a ticket and come down here...let us know. We want to start thinking about your visit and make sure that we set aside time to be with you. To discuss a possible visit: email aprilcropper at yahoo dot com or kevincropper at yahoo dot com or call us on our cell phone : 011-570-6639-1352. (If you call you may need to call more than once to get through...sometimes there is signal...sometimes not.)

Hoping to see you soon.
April and Kevin