Gender Equality India Project #24721

Support for menstrual health for girls in India

by Indian Dreams Foundation

Support for menstrual health for girls in India

Project Report | May 4, 2020
She is leading a healthy life...

By Anjali kumari | Coordinator

Girl's counselling session

Dear Friends,

Greetings from the Indian Dreams Foundation!

I hope you are safe, healthy, and motivated at this time of the pandemic.

During this COVID 19 pandemic situation, our team is dedicated to improving the menstrual health & hygiene issues of the women & girls under the Smiley Days Project and day by day we are reaching to the more beneficiaries with your kind support and well- wishes.

In this report, we are again come up with the impact story of the beneficiary who has changed her mindsets on menstruation and now leading a happy life.

Priti (name changed) says, “Yes, now I use sanitary pads. The first time I get it from IDF’s didi (sister) who visited my community a few months ago and I feel much comfortable by using it during my periods. Didi also told me that irregular periods are normal in some girls when they get her first periods and it becomes regular in the span of two or three years. Now, I am not worried about it and I am thankful to Didis”.

Ignorance leads to a problem that otherwise could have been avoided. Priti (name changed) is one such girl who is ignorant about periods caused herself various difficulties. She was unfamiliar with the existence of a biological process called the Menstrual Cycle. She was shy and ignorant about periods until her mother introduced it to her when she attained menarche at the age of 12. She faced difficulty in using sanitary napkins but only after her cousin taught her the correct way of using it, she found it manageable.

However, the major issue she faced due to lack of proper knowledge was the misconception of irregular periods. Not only Priti but also her mother was unable to guide her. Priti skipped periods for one year after menarche and as a consequence, she consulted a doctor. Medication leads to periods for two months but again she skipped periods for a year.

IDF team members tried to educate her during the counseling session that after the first period, Menstrual Cycle takes some time to become normal and regular. Apart from this, we informed her about some crucial aspects related to menstrual health, hygiene, and management under Project Smiley days. In the process of taking feedback, we came to know that her periods are regular now and she is very thankful to the organization for assistance.

Thank you so much for your support and encouragement.

Regards,

IDF team

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Apr 21, 2020
A Story From The Ground

By Priyanshi Garg | Volunteer

Smiley Days

"I feel proud that now I can provide the right information to the girls of my communities about their periods. I attend regular Smiley Days Awareness sessions and collect information which is very important for every girl". says Neeru (name changed)

The girl aged about 22, attained menarche when she was 14. Neeru (name changed) had some idea about Menstrual Cycle before the onset of her first period but she was unaware as to the biological reason for this natural process in a woman’s life. She felt shy and nervous to talk with anyone more about periods and there were lots of questions in her mind related to the menstrual cycle.

She came to know about the Indian Dreams Foundation from one of her neighbors and visited the IDF's Resource Center to seek assistance. She was ignorant about Menarche, Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) besides other important aspects before connecting with us. Our health counselor listened to all her issues regarding menstrual health. She conveyed irregular periods and other hygiene issues. Even consulting doctors didn’t yield any positive results. However, when we asked her to elaborate on the same, it came out to be normal which she thought of to be problematic. Her ignorance about the duration of the Menstrual Cycle was the cause which led her to conclude something normal as an issue. Counseling helped in making one more girl advance her knowledge to deviate from the ground of ignorance. Before such education, she was practicing unhygienic measures during periods like using cloth but after this aid, she started using sanitary napkins distributed under Smiley Days Project.

Thanks everyone, the changes and confidence have been build in many girls in the communities and they recognize as Change Agents. These all could be done with the help of your support and well- wishes.

You can contribute to this project and your generous support will help us to provide sanitary napkins and hygiene material to the girls and women during COVID 19 pandemic.

You can support our COVID 19 Emergency Relief Project that helps to meet immediate needs for dry ration kits, food supply, health & hygiene kits supply to the poor families. Below is link;

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/covid-19-emergency-relief-for-communities-in-india/

Thank you so much for your support in advance,

Regards,

Team IDF

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Apr 17, 2020
Thank You Friends For You Continued Support!

By Punit Asthana | Founder

Dear Friends,

Greetings!

I hope you all are safe, healthy and motivated during this COVID-19 pandemic.

On behalf of Indian Dreams Foundation, I would like to say a big thank you to all of you for your continued support and motivation to driving us to reach out to our goal in support for menstrual health for girls in India.

We have reached out to thousands of girls and women in the last four years and raised them to understand their bodies, health and their human rights.

With your support, we have changed the mindsets of people, especially men towards the periods. Now, in our target communities, significant populations of girls and women started using sanitary napkins and gradually the taboo tag is now excluding.

We have seen significant developments amongst school going girls belief, and their confidence level increased.

Earlier, before our intervention, the majority of girls were frightened during their periods because of lack of knowledge and apprehended this natural process as taboos, disease, and had very negative perception towards five days menstrual.

Most of the girls used to remain absent in the schools, and lock them in the shaded part of the homes.

But now, significant ration of our target beneficiaries are welcoming and sensing their periods in the most assertive approaches.

This Empowerment has marked just because of all our collective endeavours and willingness to improve the society for good.

Due to COVID-19, We all understand that this time is very crucial, and patience, motivation and hope for the future are the virtues to manifest.

I am proudly saying that in this time of crisis, our team is continually serving on the fields with having goals in mind and supporting our beneficiaries either physically or through the organisation's helpline.

We care for your motivation and commitment. We apprehend that through your valuable donations, you have conferred trust, support and motivation to us to serve in the communities for the betterment of the society and meet with the desired outcomes.

So, I am ensuring that we are committed to giving the impact of your valuable donations and your trust on Indian Dreams Foudnation.

Thank you once again for the continued support.

Be Safe and Stay at Home!

Links:

Organisation's Website

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