Hetal Chirag
Sanitary Pads Distribution
When girls and women have access to sanitary napkins, they can participate in school, engage socially and carry out daily activities with dignity. Through our Menstrual Health Program, we distribute sanitary napkins to adolescent girls and women in rural communities. According to UNICEF, around 23% of girls in India drop out of school once they reach puberty. When adolescent girls have access to sanitary napkins, school dropout rate decreases by 90%. It also increases the number of workdays for women by around 40-50 days per year which leads to significant increase in income.
Access to healthy menstrual hygiene products and awareness about how to safely manage periods can prevent many serious reproductive diseases, UTIs, hormonal imbalance and cervical cancer.
Women’s Health Awareness Seminars
Besides distributing sanitary pads to underprivileged girls and women in rural communities, we organize informative and interactive seminars to raise awareness about women’s health and gender equality. Menstruation is a highly stigmatized topic in many parts of India, especially in rural communities. Through awareness seminars in local schools and rural communities, we aim to normalise periods so that girls can learn to treat menstruation as a normal and healthy part of life. We provide guidance to adolescent girls about how to manage their periods through interactive sessions, visual aids and educational materials.
Besides spreading awareness about menstrual hygiene management, we also educate women about other health problems they may be facing such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer and mental health issues. Through collaboration with doctors, gynaecologists and therapists, we educate women about symptoms, early detection and precautions that could prevent pain and diseases.
