I BLEED

In this episode I travel to Lebanon, and meet the Imam of the Baydoun mosque located in the heart of Beirut. Sheikh Ibrahim Al hout is not only an Imam but a professor lecturing at the Lebanese University. It was my first time entering a mosque. I was asked to wear something modest, and headscarf to cover my hair. As I entered the mosque I was blown away on how beautiful it was...the lights, the chandeliers, the carpets, the ornament....I sat with the Imam to learn and understand Islam’s understanding of the woman’s cycle.

In this episode I travel to Lebanon, and meet the Imam of the Baydoun mosque located in the heart of Beirut. Sheikh Ibrahim Al hout is not only an Imam but a professor lecturing at the Lebanese University. It was my first time entering a mosque. I was asked to wear something modest, and headscarf to cover my hair. As I entered the mosque I was blown away on how beautiful it was...the lights, the chandeliers, the carpets, the ornament....I sat with the Imam to learn and understand Islam’s understanding of the woman’s cycle.

I believe a collective healing happens when people from that collective share their stories out loud, when the story no longer remains untold, hushed, and forgotten.

For many of the women I interviewed, no one had asked them about the story of their first period, it was a forgotten story one not to be brought up…

I was honoured to hear them tell their stories for the first time.

This collection of first period stories, I see it as a healing circle, but also as an archive of stories for those who have not yet stepped into their cycle.

There is a power and beauty in sharing our stories….

WANT TO SHARE YOU 1st PERIOD STORY?

Sharing connects us to each other, and has the power to bind us and heal us.

There are two way to go about it.

You can either send me a video of around 2-3min, looking straight into the camera and sharing your first period story.

Or you can send me a picture of you around the time you got you first period along with your written story.

I believe a collective healing happens when people from that collective share their stories out loud, when the story no longer remains untold, hushed, and forgotten.

For many of the women I interviewed, no one had asked them about the story of their first period, it was a forgotten story one not to be brought up…

I was honoured to hear them tell their stories for the first time.

This collection of first period stories, I see it as a healing circle, but also as an archive of stories for those who have not yet stepped into their cycle.

There is a power and beauty in sharing our stories….

WANT TO SHARE YOU 1st PERIOD STORY?

Sharing connects us to each other, and has the power to bind us and heal us.

There are two way to go about it.

You can either send me a video of around 2-3min, looking straight into the camera and sharing your first period story.

Or you can send me a picture of you around the time you got you first period along with your written story.

In this episode I sit with a Catholic priest and the parish priest of the St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Jebel Ali in Dubai, Father Reinhold Sahner. I meet him in the Parish located in what looks like a religious village...a conglomeration of churches, temples and mosques in one place. From the outside, you’d never think that this is a church....it looks more like a school. Inside is a church... We talk about the rituals and the beliefs the catholic church has around periods.

Fr. Reinhold Sahner was born on 19 February 1960 in Mosbach/Baden, the southern part of Germany. After studies in philosophy and theology at the Universities of TŸbingen and Bamberg he moved to Denmark in 1988 and was ordained a priest in 1990 for the Diocese of Copenhagen. He worked as parish priest and taught German and History of Religious Thought at the Jesuit High School in Copenhagen. From August 2012 he lived and worked in Abu Dhabi, with special responsibility for the German speaking communities in UAE and the Gulf countries, sent by the Secretariat for the Pastoral Care of Catholics Abroad of the German Episcopal Conference. He began his tenure as the parish priest here in late-November 2015.

https://stfrancisjebelali.ae/people/fr-reinhold-sahner

I believe a collective healing happens when people from that collective share their stories out loud, when the story no longer remains untold, hushed, and forgotten.

For many of the women I interviewed, no one had asked them about the story of their first period, it was a forgotten story one not to be brought up…

I was honoured to hear them tell their stories for the first time.

This collection of first period stories, I see it as a healing circle, but also as an archive of stories for those who have not yet stepped into their cycle.

There is a power and beauty in sharing our stories….

WANT TO SHARE YOU 1st PERIOD STORY?

Sharing connects us to each other, and has the power to bind us and heal us.

There are two way to go about it.

You can either send me a video of around 2-3min, looking straight into the camera and sharing your first period story.

Or you can send me a picture of you around the time you got you first period along with your written story.

I believe a collective healing happens when people from that collective share their stories out loud, when the story no longer remains untold, hushed, and forgotten.

For many of the women I interviewed, no one had asked them about the story of their first period, it was a forgotten story one not to be brought up…

I was honoured to hear them tell their stories for the first time.

This collection of first period stories, I see it as a healing circle, but also as an archive of stories for those who have not yet stepped into their cycle.

There is a power and beauty in sharing our stories….

WANT TO SHARE YOU 1st PERIOD STORY?

Sharing connects us to each other, and has the power to bind us and heal us.

There are two way to go about it.

You can either send me a video of around 2-3min, looking straight into the camera and sharing your first period story.

Or you can send me a picture of you around the time you got you first period along with your written story.

In this episode I travel to Montreal, and meet with the Senior Rabbi of the Shaare Zedek Congregation in NDG, a spiritual leader in the community. He invites to his office in NDG. So I drive to meet him early in the morning; his office is located above the temple and and we spend the morning talking through the jewish perspective on the woman’s cycle, and the reasons behind some of the rituals that may appear to be odd or interpreted negatively.

 Rabbi Alan W. Bright of Shaare Zedek Congregation in Montreal. He completed his education doing Jewish Studies from London School of Jewish Studies (London) and Concordia University. He was also at the Yemin Orde and became an active member of this Youth Village.

https://www.shaarezedek.ca/about-us/clergy/rabbi/

My name is Leah, I'm a filmmaker and story teller and here is my podcast all about periods.

You can learn more about my project by visiting www.i-bleed.com