The 2023-2024 World of 8 Billion student video contest is now closed. Winners will be announced on May 21, 2024!

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Winners

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2023 High School Winners

Gender Equality

Call the Shots on Menstrual Inequality

Arianna Prado Calvo, Jimena Chacón González, and María Fernanda Zeballos Llerena

Golden Valley School San Isidro, Heredia, Costa Rica

Arianna Prado Calvo, Jimena Chacón González, and María Fernanda Zeballos Llerena are in the 9th grade at Golden Valley School in Costa Rica. They found out about the World of 8 Billion contest from their science teacher, Ms. Grillo. They were interested in gender equality because of a bill introduced in the Costa Rican Congress to reduce tax on feminine hygiene products.They said that current hygiene tax is hard for many Costa Ricans, but especially for those that are low income, indigenous or imprisoned, and they wanted to shine a light on the issue because access to feminine hygiene products is so important.They invited someone from the menstruation & justice campaign to come speak at their school’s assembly. Jimena noted that she was shocked that “people often have to choose between eating or going to school when menstruating” because of the high costs and this challenge is only going to grow with the population increasing.

Through the Mujeres Líderes (Women in Connection) organization, Jimena, Arianna, and María were invited to Congress and, after hearing the stories of many women across Costa Rica, they were inspired to create their video. This is the first time they have created a video like this and they found that summarizing the vast amount of information in the short time period to be challenging. Throughout the process, they learned a lot about editing and what information would create the most impact for their cause. Some advice that Jimena, Arianna, and María have is for participants to use the project organizer because it included all the steps which gave them more time to be creative. Also, they recommend using the topic backgrounders because they helped them narrow down their topic.

Jimena, Arianna, and María have been inspired by many women in their lives, especially in their families. In addition, Jimena’s dance teacher, María’s babysitter, and Arriana’s great aunt have inspired them to grow and never stop doing the things they love. María likes to sing, read, cheer, and loves animals, especially her dog, Solcito. Jimena likes to dance, read, bake, and hang out with her two dogs, Maya and Negra, and her cat, Leia. If she doesn’t make baking her career she is thinking about a career in neuroscience. Arianna, like her great aunt that inspires her, likes to try a lot of things including knitting, puzzles, soccer, dance, chemistry olympiad, and Model UN. She also loves animals and has four cats: Frida, Dali, Lupe, and Babou. All three of them are interested in doing projects for others and want to help create social change. In the future, they plan on making their video project come to life and have proposed their plan to their social responsibility committee at school.

Call the Shots on Menstrual Inequality

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