Menstrual Hygiene Kits for 1300 orphan girls,India

In India, the lockdown and its extension impacts access to menstrual hygiene products and the ability to maintain hygiene during periods in privacy and with dignity for girls living in child care homes.

This specifically becomes very difficult in rural areas wherein access to chemist shops is very limited.

Girls and women dependent on free or subsidised supplies from schools, anganwadis  find themselves cut off for at least a month, if not longer in the last nation wise lockdown.

During these difficult times the major importance is given to Groceries and day to day survival essentials. Access to menstrual hygiene and essentials has become an issue in many rural areas which leads to unhygienic usage of clothes and various infections.

As education and health services have been disrupted, so has the flow of basic information about menstrual health and hygiene. More than ever, we must find new, creative ways to educate people about menstruation – to dispel rumours and spread positive, accurate information about menstruation, both to raise awareness and to end stigma and shame. 

To Bridge this gap we introduced the Digital engagement program to ensure access to upgrading skills, learning new things, and teaching them life skills by conducting various sessions online. Addressing issues related to Menstrual hygiene was one of the important aspect through these sessions.

The key objectives of this program were:

- Engaging the children in educational content and meaningful vocational activity

-  To ensure that they connect with teachers/mentors unable to visit them within CCI premises

- To conduct online counselling/mentoring of children and young adults

Through these sessions we were able to acknowledge any doubts that children had related to their cycle and also ensured each of the homes were stocked up with all the required essentials