By Ray Umashankar | Executive Director
English language instruction and computer literacy programs continue in six centers in Hyderabad, one center in Delhi, one center in Kolkata and one center in Forebesgunj. There is great interest among the girls in learning both English and computers.
As we continue to expand into villages in rural India with our English and computer literacy programs, we came acroas a major hurdle. Girls were dropping out of high schools in record numbers making it impossible for us to recruit them. As we investigated the reasons for the drop out, we discovered that the lack of availability of sanitary napkins was a major reason.
Girls used dirty rags, newspapers and due to poor hygienic conditions fell sick. The lack of toilet facilities in schools created embarassment for the girls. To address this problem we searched for a manufacturer of inexpensive sanitary pads using locally available materials. We found a very reputable social entreprenuer Swati Bedekar in the city of Vadodra making these machines as well as brick kilns to dispose off the used napkins.
we have partnered with Swati Bedekar and I will be visiting her on December 26th. Our plan is to set up one machine in each community, train the women to operate the machine and employ them. The pads will be sold to the girls by this community wnterprise to generate income to offset operating expenses.
After the successful implemwntation of the pilot project, plans will be made to install the machines in each of the 150 villages.
By Ray Umashankar | Executive Director
By Ray Umashankar | Executive Director
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