Business School guest inspires with insights on record-breaking health campaign

Students and staff at the University of Chester welcomed an MP from India to share more on his research and world record-breaking Cup of Life campaign which is tackling taboos about periods.

Hibi Eden, Member of Parliament for Kerala and Member of the Indian National Congress, was joined by representatives from the International Skill Development Corporation (ISDC) when he visited the University’s Business School earlier this month.

He presented a lecture on the Cup of Life initiative – thought to be the world’s largest menstrual hygiene campaign. He discussed its aims and achievements with Master of Science Health Services Management students and lecturers. The campaign had previously sparked the interest of students when they learned about it during the Health and Social Care Commissioning module of the postgraduate programme.

Led by Mr Eden, in association with Muthoot Finance, the campaign entered the Guinness World Records in 2022 by distributing 100,001 free menstrual cups across 126 venues, in the Ernakulam district of Kerala, within 24 hours.

Professor James Derbyshire introduced Mr Eden’s lecture and Student Voice Representatives, Ruhina Nadeem and Amitha Mary John, gave a presentation to the delegation on life as a student in Chester.

The delegation also toured parts of the Business School with Associate Dean International, Dr Alex Fenton, and included: Tom M Joseph, ISDC Executive Director – Strategy Development; John Xavier, ISDC Director – New Initiatives, and Pravinth Rajaratnam, ISDC Director – Academic.

Students shared the strong impression the visit made. Amitha said: “Many thanks for helping me to be a part of this memorable meeting” and Adeolu Adeniran said: “Thank you for organising the visit, it was inspiring”.

Mr Eden said: “It was wonderful opportunity to discuss the Cup of Life campaign with students at Chester Business School, and to also find out more about the University.

“I was impressed by Ruhina and Amitha’s presentation about the overall student experience, most importantly the warm hospitality provided to students at Chester by the University, and also the high number of students from Kerala, which I have not seen elsewhere.”

Vina Mistry, Programme Leader for MSc Health Service Management added:

“We are extremely grateful to Mr Eden and all the representatives for visiting us.

“Mr Eden’s lecture was very powerful and the students’ feedback showed how much they appreciated hearing about the campaign, and the time spent here, as well as the opportunity to share more about themselves, and the University.

“Thank you to students Ruhina and Amitha for their fantastic presentation, and Business School colleagues, Luke Pearson, Luisa Goncalves Rosado, James Derbyshire, Lisa Conway and Alex Fenton, for their support in hosting the visit.”