Girls Glory - Improve Menstrual Health in India

“Hygiene is two thirds of health” – It’s the well-known Lebanese proverb and its very much applicable these days like never before.

 The pandemic of COVID 19 has struck the entire globe in an unprecedented disastrous fashion and humanity as whole is panic stricken as to how to deal with the situation and overcome the consequences. This is the time that calls all of us to lend a hand of support to each other and join a collective action front to defend the race against the pandemic. Reaching Hand is planning various proactive interventions to tackle the crisis.

As wearing the mask is very essential  In Reaching Hand intervention 60000 government students benefitedwith face maskas it was very importantduring the 10^th examination in rural and urban Bangalore., While wearing a cloth mask prevents people from potentially transmitting an infection to others.

SANITATION FACILITIES AND CHILDREN’S EDUCATION

One in five girls of primary-school age are not in school, compared to one in six boys. One factor accounting for this difference is the lack of sanitation facilities for girls reaching puberty. Girls are also more likely to be responsible for collecting water for their family, making it difficult for them to attend school during school hours. The installation of toilets and latrines may enable school children, especially menstruating girls, to continue their education by remaining in the school. many children do not have access to suitable sanitation facilities in government schools,due to absence of basic sanitation facilities in schools’ girls are absent to school and feel shy and “do not talk” Taboos are the main concern in the community.

 Girls Glory specially focusing on Toilet issues of Government schools specially for girls so they do not miss the school during menstruation.

Highlights

Inthis quarter in Reaching handconstructed the toilet in 6 schools, around 19 unites in Urban and Rural Bangalore and its ready for inauguration.

WASH AWARENESS PROGRAMME 

Personal hygiene plays a major role to promote healthy life, to protect our health and keep our life safe. WASH awareness program was conducted in Urban and rural Bangalore. The beneficiaries were oriented on importance of maintaining cleanliness in Restrooms, hygienic use of toilets, role of personal hygiene including hand washing, in reducing incidence of water borne diseases.

Sensitization covered the following major components: 

o   Oral Hygiene (with 5steps)

o   BathingRitual

o   Hair Care

o   FootHygiene

o   ToiletingHygiene

o   Hand Hygiene (with 7 steps of handwashing)

o   Coughing and SneezingHygiene 

At the end of the session the children were provided with health kits. 

MENSTRUAL HYGIENE MANAGEMENT 

Periods don’t stop in Pandemics, menstrual health in the time of covid -19                              Even without a pandemic to contend with, managing one’s period is a heavy burden on many of the hundreds of millions of girls and COVID-19 has made this burden far heavier. While periods do not stop in a pandemic, there is an increased risk that the already limited resources to support menstrual health do stop.

• Access to WASH facilities becomes more difficult for many girls, because of self-isolation and lockdown.
• Access to affordable menstrual hygiene materials becomes more difficult, because of shortages due to stock-outs, panic buying, price surges, disruptions in the supply chain or increased family financial stress.
• Social rejections and stigma may increase because of disruption in the usual information and awareness channels (e.g. funding diverted from women’s health services, school closures).

                                       Reaching hand is actively working to make sure that access to these vital resources: WASH facilities, menstrual hygiene products and information, DO NOT STOP during a pandemic. Refreshing session on WASH and MHM has been conducted for girls and boys. this pandemic crisis is very challenging for us to reach our beneficiaries, well we found a solution, keeping distance and with precautionary measures we reached out to beneficiaries and conducted session on WASH and MHM , and also children are taught on COVID 19 measures and precautions to be followed to stay safe and healthy.

Menstrupedia comic books and MHM kit distribution

                                  Menstrupedia comic is the period guide for girls ages 9 and above. Menstrupedia comic is a guide to educate the girls  around the world on menstruation. Menstrupedia aims to help girls understand the process of puberty in women. It seeks to destroy myths around menstruation and to normalize the biological process. Our goal of distributing the comic book is to break the taboos from children’s heart about the perception of menstruation. We teach them how to adapt to the natural changes in life and celebrate them.

                                       It helps girls to understand their bodies better and not let society shame them for their biology. It represents a stage of adolescence girls who haven’t started their period yet and want to learn more about them,girls who have just started their period and want advice on how to prepare for them and girls who have had periods for some time and might be curious about the myths surrounding them, We believe this book is helping all the girls to be strong  and overcome shyness which is associated with being a girl in this society.

Installation of Incinerators: 

The Incinerators have been installed in urban and rural Bangalore. 

Case study 

Shravani a young girl studying in 6^th grade in GHPS Bagalur colony. She stated that the menstrual hygiene and management session was an eyeopener for her. She has not yet attended puberty hence she was hesitant hear this information in the beginning. But the facilitator made her feel comfortable where she enabled all the children to participate through storytelling and games. Shravani is happy that she receives this information which has helped her to prepare herself to face her puberty gracefully and confidently.

I learnt about hormonal changes, physical changes, how to maintain personal cleanliness during menstruation, healthy diet and safe way of using sanitary pads and its disposal. 

This session has really enabled me to do away with myths related to menstruation. Now I do not have any fear and I am prepared to face my first cycle withcourage and confidence. I would like to thank Fidelity and Reaching Hand for creating confidence in me.

SHY AWAY THE TABOO AND MARCH TOWARDS A HEALTHY AND STRONG FUTURE.

Thousands of girls are trained and equipped to battle the taboo and poor sanitation facilities to accomplish some very essential menstrual hygiene through the Girls Glory Programme, every year. The story wasn’t any different this year. 857 Adolescent girls attended the Menstrual Hygiene Workshop and had a perceptive about puberty, menstruation, menstrual cycle, hygiene management etc. Menstrual Hygiene Management information was shared during video clips on usage and disposal of sanitary napkin through these girls had a sound knowledge on menstrual hygiene practices. Through Workshops it created space for the students to openly discuss their issues and problems faced during their menstruation.

Contemplation and comprehension at FGDs

Focus group discussion was conducted in 3 schools at Jakkur, Thippanahalli and Kannahalli. The purpose of this FGD was to understand and assess the current      knowledge         and awareness about menstruation among adolescent girls. Along with FGDs in-depth interviews were also conducted to understand the personal hygiene practices, taboos and the means of disposing of sanitary pads and menstrual challenges and needs etc. The study was done with the sample size of 25 -30 respondents from higher primary and high schools.

Some of the findings from the FGDs were: Totally 30% of the girls were not aware of puberty as they have not attained puberty hence they were informed on the same. 60% of the girls were not aware on the bodily changes occurs during the puberty stage. 45% of girls were open to share and without hesitation talked about menstruation. All the girls stated that menstrual cycle and discharge of blood is not good for health. 85% of girls were not aware that iron supplement is highly essential for girls to prevent them from being anemic and they are unaware of the food items fruits and vegetables which are rich in protein. Cent percent girls shared that they often feel uncomfortable during menstrual days as they are unaware about the menstrual hygiene management. 75% of the respondents shared that they have issues of irregularities and stomach pains and they have not approached doctors for the same.

Action Through Participation

The WASH committees were formed in GHPS Thipenahalli and GMPS Jakkur. Prior to the formation of the committees, children who were interested in the health leadership were shortlisted and oriented to participate in the campaign/election. After the campaign all the students exercised their franchise and casted their votes in selecting their leaders. Totally 110 actively participated and casted their valuable votes and elected their WASH committee leaders.

Students were educated on importance of adopting good menstrual hygiene practice to enjoy good health in pursuing their education, best practices on hygiene management.

Small Steps To a Giant Leap

Girls who are part of the programme, have an understanding on how to calculate their menstrual cycle, which was one of the major drawbacks as most of the girls come unprepared to school during their menstruation days. Menstrual Hygiene Management was explained during the sensitization workshop. Girls are now acquainted on the proper usage and disposal of sanitary napkins.

Case Study

See the anecdote from a girl of GHPS Thippenahalli, Bangalore, to understand the transformation ‘Girls Gory’ is causing:

“Reaching Hand sensitized us on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM). Many of us were embarrassed during the session. I had many questions in my mind to clarify but I was hesitant to ask. Later I gained confidence and clarified my doubts. I was advised by my parents that once girls attain puberty, they cannot take part in sport activity to avoid health complications. Hence, I restricted myself in taking part in sports, although I was very much interested. MHM session was an eye opener for me to find answer for all my doubts. Now I am confident of breaking the myth and participate in sports activities whole heartedly says”