I GOT IN!!
i was accepted to the well: school school of body literacy!
four years ago i met sarah bly.
I had been charting my menstrual cycle for over a year at that point but i really wanted to sit down with someone who could answer questions, and who had wisdom i could glean. i searched for days looking for an educator in my area, but couldn’t find anyone. then i opened up my search to include people who would travel to me and that’s how i found sarah. back then her school was called grace of the moon. now it’s called the well: school of body literacy. so, i organized a fertility awareness workshop and had her come from oregon to florida to teach. it was such a beautiful weekend and i hold it dearly in my heart.
i knew i wanted to be what sarah is for so many people. i wanted people t obe able to look up fertility awareness educators in my community — hell, in my state — and find someone who could teach them the magic of body literacy and the fertility awareness method. I’ve been following along with sarah and her school, waiting for the right time to apply, and forever trying to figure out how to afford it.
my why:
my passion for teaching folx who menstruate about their bodies, and how their bodies function, and the importance of ovulation has only grown since that weekend. In the last four years my heart for reminding people of their autonomy i’ve encounter so many people who, because of a broken system, have no idea how their anatomy works or how to name their genitals. People who don’t know what it means when a provider tells them about cervical dilation, or when I say that the vulva and the vagina aren’t the same. people who carry deep, deep shame from purity culture or trauma.
I want to give people the education they need to feel powerful and proud of their bodies.
i want to help pregnant people feel confident in their autonomy.
i want to help young people create a healthy relationship with their bodies.
i want to give people the tools to know and understand their cycles.
i want to help people build their families… or prevent pregnancies.
my how:
i watched sarah’s social media and hoped for many years that i would somehow be able to afford her program one day. then sarah announced a scholarship for bipoc people and i immediately wrote her. she explained the details and encouraged me to apply for the next cohort. I waited six months for the application period for her holistic reproductive and sexual health, and fertility awareness educator training to open in june and i applied for the program and the scholarship. i attended a q&a session and had an amazing interview with her. i knew so many people had applied and that she would only accept a dozen or so, but i was feeling settled and confident that whatever was supposed to happen would happen.
✨then, on august 23rd, i got in! not only did i get in, i received a 50% scholarship✨
i am so freaking grateful and honored and excited, i cannot accurately express it to you. knowing that i will be able to support menstruating people in my community tap into the wisdom that is already inside of them. i get to learn from people all over the globe, both the educators and other in my cohort, and grow to become the educator, provider, healer i’ve always been moving towards becoming.
the program starts january 2022 and is two years long. at the end of that time, i’ll be able to combine the pregnancy and birth education i’ve gained in the last five and a half years, and the herbalism training, with the education i’ll gain from sarah’s program. this is the last piece of the pie for the kindred feminine to be what i’ve dreamed it to be.
because it’s all the same. my doula work, my herbalism journey, and my love for body literacy all stems from the same goal. to remind people of the wisdom, knowledge, and authority that they carry within themselves to be the first and final authority over their bodies and their reproductive health.
so, what now?
for my tuition, after my scholarship, i owe $4,600. i’ve already paid $100 towards my deposit and i need to raise another $500 between now and january. my other expenses include two round trip flights to oregon, and books and supplies. all together i need to raise $6,000 and I need your help with that. if you have the ability to do so, please consider donating via the button below to my tuition fund.
kindred merch shop
i’ve also started the kindred merch shop! it has all kinds of merch ranging from birth affirmation shirts, kindred feminine merch, and herbalism swag. please consider shopping as every item purchased via the kindred merch shop goes directly to fund my tuition. peep some of the items below!
thank you all for the support you’ve already given me and my family. i’m so grateful!
xoxo, tamara
