Girls of the Anjuman-I-Islam School in Bandra participated in a menstrual health awareness project conducted by the NGO, Indian Development Foundation (IDF), on Wednesday.
As a part of the project, practising doctors from AMSA India, a medical students’ organisation, and Care and Ease, a health awareness programme, spoke to the students about menstrual hygiene, the menstrual cycle, and nutritional information required during menstruation.
Preeti Korgaonkar, project manager at IDF, said, “Through this project, we are attempting to spread awareness of menstrual hygiene, especially to those who might not have easy access to it. Most girls are uncomfortable with any conversation on this issue, so this project is targeted to cater to their needs. Before the sessions began, we had distributed questionnaires to assess their level of awareness.”
The session was followed by distribution of ‘dignity kits’, which contained sanitary napkins, soap, towels and undergarments. “These dignity kits were distributed to girls to ensure that they follow the hygiene tips they learnt today,” Ms. Korgaonkar said.
Rukhsana Parveen, supervisor of the school, termed the initiative very useful. She said, “Girls tend to be shy when it comes to menstruation but today, they were quite active and interacted with IDF.”
The IDF project comprises a series of sessions organised at various places and targeted at menstruating women of all ages, Ms. Korgaonkar said. “We have a target of reaching 8,500 girls, and have, after this session, reached 5,000. This is the 25th school we have organised this session in,” Ms. Korgaonkar said.