Girls Glory - Improve Menstrual Health in India

“Don’t be mean; keep clean,” says Navyashree, a 7^th grade student at Siddana Hosahalli School Bangalore. She further goes on to say, “Personal hygiene is so important. I just realized this. Thank you for an eye-opening session. It covered topics that even my mother has not discussed with me.” With a heart filled with gratitude, she thanks our team at Reaching Hand.

At Reaching Hand, a standard WaSH session covers important subjects such as personal cleanliness, the changes a young girl experiences during puberty, managing menstrual hygiene and common misconceptions &  taboos related to menstrual hygiene. The workshops give students such comprehensive information that they feel competent managing their menstruation at the conclusion of each session.

Every time a session is conducted under the Girls Glory initiative. We have seen change not just in the student but also her entire family. She becomes an advocate for change for her entire community.

Key activities that were conducted in the last quarter are as follows:

• We constructed 8 units of new toilet rooms for a school in Bangalore; this will benefit 385 boys and girls. Additionally, a motor pump was installed, and some broken pipes were mended. We also provide a cleaning kit.
• WaSH and MHM workshops were conducted for 210 young girls for 5^th grade to 8th grade students.
• Creative painting was undertaken inside the toilet rooms.
• A community sensitising worker was hired, along with a washroom janitor.
• A post-survey was undertaken for all the students after the workshops were conducted. The questions involved knowledge about Menstruation and Hygiene practices. Most students did not have knowledge about safe menstruation.

Formation of wash committee

At Siddana Hosahalli School Bangalore, the WASH committee was established. Students who wanted to take the lead and show initiative were voted on  and shortlisted before the committee was formed. The leaders were then trained on how to carry out their wash awareness campaign.

Lets dive into a Teachers Perspective

“I have been working at GHPS Siddanahosahalli School for the past 14 years. Our school has a relatively higher number of adolescent girls compared to other government schools in this area. Reaching Hand staff conducted an informative session on WaSH and Menstrual Hygiene Management. Often, mothers and teachers may not be able to provide this level of detailed information, but Team Reaching Hand did an excellent job.” S. Lalithamma, a teacher at the school.

We give each girl a menstrual hygiene kit at the end of each session. In order to encourage sustainability, we also install a Pad incineratot to burn discarded sanitary napkins.We are appreciative of the school administration for providing us with the chance to affect change in young girls. 

A big Thank You also goes to all our Donors who have supported us always!

Links:

• Website
• Girls Glory Program

Thanks to all of our donors, our Girls Glory Project has been able to implement the following initiatives, changing the way people feel about cleanliness in government schools.

Among the tasks completed over the previous quarter were:

 1.Menstrual Health Management workshop with a focus on WaSH.

Our team has been holding health and hygiene seminars on a regular basis, with a particular emphasis on WaSH. Additionally, we conducted MHM workshops  for 494 students in  five schools —GHS Abbigere, GHPS – Kalashree Nagar, T Dasarahalli, GHS Vidyanagar, GHPS Ramasandra, and GLPS Mestripalya.

The students received MHM kits, which included a Dettol soap, a comic book called Menstrupedia, and a pack of sanitary pads. At the workshop our team explained the need of MHM and taboos around menstruation. 

 2.Construction of toilet rooms for girls

In four government schools in Bangalore—T Dasarahalli, Vidhyanagara, Ramasandra, and Mesthripalya school—we were able to construct toilet rooms.

Attached are some photos.

3.Pad Incinerator Installation

Five schools with recently constructed toilet rooms now have Pad incinerators thanks to our supporters who have contributed and made this possible.The Sanitary Napkin Incinerators crush the napkins and convert them into ash.

This promotes hygiene and sustanibility.

4.Appointment of washroom attendants (Ayamma).

 Reaching Hand supports schools, by hiring an attendant to ensure that all the washrooms that are built by us remain clean. We support the school for atleast six months or a  year, whereby we promote cleanliness ,not just inside the toilet room area but also in the school premises.

This project ensures sustanibility and promotes healthy well being.

 5.Post project management which involves handing over the Toilet rooms to the school.

Our team ensures that the toilet rooms that we have built for the schools are handed over to the school. Thereby ensuring that the school takes care of maintenance.

This process involves  handing over the newly constructed toilet units, incinerator  or wash basin units to the school. A handing over ceremony  was helf at the school premises. All the children from the school also attended the program. The school head master, SDMC president, vice president, teachers also took part in this program.

Plans for the next quarter

 -      Training/Motivation sessions for HM, Teachers, SDMC and BEO, DDPI and PPMW with the school management.

-      To ensure washroom attendants (Ayamma) maintains cleanliness and hygiene in the schools.

-      To follow up with schools to ensure that cleanliness is maintained.

-      To follow up with schools to ensure continuity and proper functioning of WaSH student committees.

Links:

• Search for us on google