Menstrual Hygiene Management- Educating the girls’ students

Menstrual Hygiene Management- Educating the Girls’ students

In the next stage of sensitizing students in the 26 Government Schools under the preview of our WASH project aegis UNICEF, where have now started sensitizing the senior girls from classes 6th to 10th on the more sensitive and crucial aspects of Menstrual Hygiene Management.

In the girls’ sessions apart from detailed explanation of the menstrual cycle, related process, facts, myths, taboos, the girls are primarily educated on the ways to take care of themselves during the menstruation:

* To clarify your doubts, seek guidance from your mother or speak to some elderly women.

* To control the bleeding and avoid staining of clothes, girls should either use sanitary napkins or properly washed and sun dried cloth.

* The girls are explained that it is normal to have irregular periods in the start as it takes time for body to adapt to new hormones. Irregular periods for a new beginner varying from 22 to 34 days are normal.  

* Colour of blood is usually bright red in beginning and then slowly turns into brown.

* Not having periods even uptil the age of 15 to 16 is normal but beyond this age, the girls must visit the doctor.

* The white discharge from the vagina is a natural process of cleaning of body as long as it does not smell a lot and if it is not green (like balgam). 

* Feel tired or pain during the periods is normal. 

* Food or diet to be taken during periods: important to have iron rich foods like banana, apple, spinach, black chana, etc., have lots of water especially during periods.

* To have relief from pain: drink hot milk or ginger tea, use hot water bottle on lower abdomen and lower back, massage your lower abdomen or lower back with pain relieving oil.

* Wearing fresh underwear is a must for females.

* If anyone feels like eating mitti, chalk or scrape wall- it means you are deficient in iron. Consume the iron tablets which are made available in schools.

Educating the girls that menstrual hygiene is vital to their health makes them more confident, aware and maintain hygiene for safe and healthy life.

We hope that these sessions will work as a trigger for better, stronger development of girls. 

Menstrual Hygiene Management- Sensitizing boys’ students to this essential subject

Menstrual Hygiene Management-  Sensitizing boys’ students

 to this essential subject

In the next stage of sensitizing students in the 26 Government Schools under the preview of our WASH project aegis UNICEF guidelines, where have now started sensitizing the senior boys of classes 6th to 10th with the process of the menstrual cycle as the reality of every girl.

The task is definitely more challenging for how to introduce to the boys with a topic, which is till date even not openly discussed even with the girls. 

At the very initial stage itself to grasp the maximum attention of the boys, they are segregated into different groups and each group is then given the task to jot down few points on the importance of education for girls. 

Based upon the inputs received from each group of boys, we are indirectly able to instigate amongst the boys the feelings of mutual respect along with importance of girls and most importantly importance of girls’ education for a progressive society. 

After the above, the boys are made more inquisitive to know and understand the reality of human birth and their coming into this world.

How naturally and biologically the individual bodies of boys and girls start preparing themselves by undergoing some very essential changes and developmental processes to actually develop as a full fledged man or woman respectively.

Inclusive of these above mentioned developmental processes, the process of menstrual cycle of girls is explained to the boys, so as to promote complete knowledge and better understanding. 

After the detailed explanation of all the biological developmental processes happening in the bodies of boys and girls independently, the boys seem to be more confident, respectful and sensitive towards the special needs of both genders and more willing to be supportive and well behaved with the girls.

To further these feelings of mutual respect and care towards the girls, the boys are narrated the real life story of Mr. Arunachalam Murugnanatham, who brought about the sanitary pad revolution and mastered the indigenous technique of producing low-cost sanitary pads.

We hope that with the guidance and new learnings for these students, the boys will now realize all the more the importance of acknowledging, respecting and understanding girls as their fellow gender.

WASH in School- An initiative to promote Clean Water Consumption

WASH- An initiative to promote Clean Water Consumption

When we peer into a glass of drinking water, we are looking at a drop of human history—the water we consume today has been around in one form or another for thousands of years, continually recycled through the atmosphere and back into our glasses.

But today, ‘drinking water’ and ‘consuming clean and safe’ water are two different realities. In continuation to which, the major target to numerous acute water borne diseases are our children who lose a major part of their childhood in struggling to retain a good health. Furthermore, this leads to absenteeism from schools and loss of their studies.

Addressing to the above situation, under the guidelines of UNICEF, a program known as WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) in School (WINS) has been initiated by The Transformers Value Creators in association  with Rotary Club, Chandigarh and adopted 26 Government schools in and around Chandigarh Tricity where around 40,000 students and 8000 Teachers are being sensitized and educated with clean water consumption, improved sanitation and hygiene education that encourages the development of healthy behavior in students for life.

We are emphasizing on clean water consumption by making students understand the importance of clean drinking water and saving it from any adulteration.

Through this WASH initiative we are further explaining students ways through which they can contribute to save gallons of water daily and deal with the water scarcity.

* We can definitely turn off all the taps tightly after each usage whether in schools, home or public place.

* Taking responsibility to ensure repair and maintenance of leaking tapes or pipes is undertaken by their elders.

* Preventing any water cooler contamination or vandalism. Also washing our hands at interval times and preventing water pollution with dirty hands.

* Keeping water tanks clean, covered and checking them on regular basis. 

* Rain water harvesting is one of the most effective and suitable techniques around areas suffering from clean water shortage. Harvesting rain water can be used for purposes like watering plant, washing clothes, in toilet flushes etc.

* Planting trees eventually helps our environment to produce more rainfall.

We are also sharing insight about the nationwide campaign, “Rally for Rivers” focusing on saving our depleting rivers by practicing methods through which we can ensure a safe future of our water bodies.

Thus, practicing sensitive & collaborative efforts towards conserving natural water to ensure its availability for future generations can only be fulfilled with involvement and engagement of children.