Burning Man may be long over, but one initiative we’ve just been told about from there concerns two recent alumni from UNR’s School of Public Health, Layla BenBrahim and Madalyn Larson who distributed menstrual and harm reduction kits during the playa extravaganza.
BenBrahim, who now works at UNR as an Accreditation and Evaluation Coordinator and Larson, a public health researcher, placed kits complete with pads, tampons, bamboo wipes, sandwiches and lollipops in bins around the Dusty Dillas campsite and both shared information on using also made available harm reduction supplies.
Those were assembled with the help of the Northern Nevada Harm Reduction Alliance and the Center for the Application of Substance Abuse Technologies.
“The members of the Northern Nevada Harm Reduction Alliance (NNHRA) and my Dusty Dillas campmates encouraged me to bring these supplies and messages on the playa. Before Burning Man, I spent time with my friends to assemble kits and make sure I had the right messages to convey to other burners who were interested in learning about harm reduction,” Larson said.
“There are a few theme camps at Burning Man who do extensive efforts for providing period support,” BenBrahim said of her own initiative. “The one that comes to mind is camp Redhanded. I visited them back in 2023 and was absolutely blown away by how comfortable they made me feel. I just knew that I was able to contribute in a similar manner but at a smaller scale.”
By the end of this year’s burn, all of their kits had been distributed. Shouldn’t we normalize these types of kits throughout our communities and in party areas off playa year round?
Our Town Reno, Citizen’s Forum, September 2024
