period of change - swachh...

Period ofChange

How MHM is empowering adolescents in Jalna and Osmanabad

BACKGROUND: Deafening

Silences

SHG Run Production Units’

conducted by UNICEF and Water

S u p p l y a n d S a n i t a t i o n

Department, GoM, in 2010, 87% girls and women respondents There comes a time in every pre-w e r e n o t a w a r e a b o u t teen girl’s life when she is menstruation before menarche confronted with a remarkable and 50% of the respondents state change. A sign of normalcy, a sign menstruation has no relation to of good health and a sign that life reproduction.will continue through her someday. The stigma and taboos associated But sadly, this change – when it with this most natural inevitable first arrives - is greeted with fear, biological occurrence prevent alarm and, worst of all, silence in young girls and women from freely many homes in rural India. Rural discussing it, seeking information Maharashtra is no different. about it and accessing the right Because a majority of young girls resources to manage it - be it in the do not know about menstruation. home, in school or in public A c c o r d i n g t o t h e ‘ R a p i d spaces. Sanitation. Privacy. Assessment on Menst rua l Safety. Dignity. Self-respect:Hygiene & Feasibility of existing

Good menstrual hygiene

is linked to sanitation. privacy.

safety. dignity. self-respect

1

words that count in every girl and programme that is heralding a

woman’s life. And good menstrual systematic, focused intervention

hygiene is linked to all of them. But into the subject. The programme is

such is the stigma and silence being implemented by the Zilla

surrounding menstruation, that P a r i s h a d , G o v e r n m e n t o f

these have detrimental effects on Maharashtra in partnership with

the educat ion and hea l th UNICEF’s Water Sanitation and

outcomes for girls and women, Hygiene (WASH) programme. The

adversely impacting the quality of programme calls up stakeholders

life that they lead in the short and and line departments in the

long term. government and community to

work in a convergent manner to

Not knowing how to manage an tackle the issue. The MHM

event that takes up an average of programme that is slowly changing

3,000 days of her lifetime wreaks the way menstruation is perceived,

serious physiological damage. experienced and spoken about

Girls who are not properly one girl at a time.

educated about menstruation and

have no opportunity to learn about it may end up using inadequate

and somet imes dangerous MHM refers to girls and women’s

materials such as dirty rags, straw, ability to use clean, hygienic

sand or newspaper. These can and menstrual management material

do lead to infections and disability. to absorb or collect menstrual

Pushing the subject further into the blood that can be changed in

closet also impacts a girl’s privacy as often as necessary for

education, with almost all girls the duration of a menstrual period,

reluctant to go to school, preferring having access to safe and

to stay at home and miss out on convenient facilities for changing

lessons during her period. This is materials, using soap and water for

because the invisible gag on the washing the body, and assuring

subject pervades most schools safe dispose of used menstrual

too. A place of learning which management materials. They

ironically remains silent on understand the basic facts linked

menstruation, and offers no to the menstrual cycle and how to

access to hygienic toilets, sanitary manage it with dignity and without

napkins, separate disposal bins, discomfort or fear.

clean water and soap to wash her

hands with. Without these, the But that’s not all. MHM is also

school environment proves to be about addressing social and

unhealthy, gender discriminatory cultural behaviour that is based on

and inadequate.

But all this is slowly changing in

Jalna and Osmanabad districts of

Maharashtra. All because of a

paradigm-shift ing Menstrual

Hygiene Management (MHM)

INTRODUCTION: What is MHM

he myths and taboos that have

been circulating on menstruation,

educating society and families, as

well as girls, on practices which

limit girls' participation and prevent

2

MHM is the ability to use

hygienic material to absorb

menstrual blood that can be

changed in privacy during

a menstrual period, as well as

access to safe, convenient

facilities to change and

dispose of used material

Final Draft. Approval of design & final proof-read pending

tthem reaching their potential. promoting hygienic behaviour.

The aim is to not only facilitate

Effective menstrual hygiene increase in knowledge but also

management is fundamental to encourage change in behaviours,

several aspects: which in this case means the ability

to adopt and maintain hygienic

practices. Most importantly, it

Thus, MHM is fundamental to the entails assuring them that there is

dignity of women and girls and an no cause for fear, embarrassment

integral part of basic sanitation and or humiliation.

hygiene services which every girl

and woman is entitled to. Providing girls with

access to hygienic menstruation

material, safe toilets, clean water

and adequate soap, as well as

The MHM programme works with a appropriate facilities to dispose off

5-fold objective in a broader sense used sanitary napkins.

:

The programme

awareness about menstruation seeks to empower girls with

and menstrual hygiene among knowledge and skills to manage

pubescent and pre-pubescent girls their menstruation, thereby

by breaking the silence, debunking boosting their morale, self-esteem

myths, replacing these with and their ability to demand quality

scientific and factual information menstrual hygiene products. It

equips the girls to be ambassadors

of change and reach out to their

: T h e peers effectively.

programme is also geared towards

OBJECTIVES

3. Access:

1 . A w a r e n e s s : C r e a t i n g 4. Empowerment:

2. Promote behaviour and

a t t i t u d i n a l c h a n g e

3

Education Girl-friendly WASH infrastructure, commodities and other support keep girls in schools

HealthGood menstrual hygiene not only ensures physical health, but also social and mental well-being

EnvironmentSafe disposal of materials protects the environment

EconomyInvesting in menstrual hygiene can provide business opportunities for SHG (Sanitary Napkin Enterprise)

Human rightsEnsuring good MHM can support the fulfilment of several human rights, particularly the right to education


MHM was first a key

component in the Daily

Handwashing for an Ailment-

free Life (DHaAL) project in

50 schools each in Jalna and

Aurangabad districts

5. Creae an enabling environment: Clean India Campaign by MoHRD,

The programme aims to make GoI. It covered 50 Zilla Parishad

schools MH-friendly. When girls schools in Bhokardan block of

perceive and manage their periods Jalna district, reaching over 7,500

with confidence and schools students, including 3,893 girls

provide clean, safe toilets and belonging to statndard 6th till 10th.

i n f r a s t r u c t u r e , g i r l s f e e l This project, as the name

encouraged to enrol in and stay in suggests, focused on promoting

school, thereby completing their the practice of washing hands

education without any disruptions through proper handwashing

or gaps. It includes capacity stations, soap and clean water in

b u i l d i n g o f t h e v a r i o u s 100 scalable primary schools.

stakeholders who plan but also Menstrual hygiene management

carry out interventions. It is was included as an integral

creating an atomsphere wherein component o f the DHaAL

the secrecy haunting this issue is intervention as a pilot initiative.

no longer a reality.

Among other objectives, the

DHaAL project also tried to ensure

the availability of sanitary napkins

in the selected schools and

The MHM intervention began in entailed district-level advocacy

Jalna through another UNICEF with line departments to promote

project (in partnership with Sarva awareness about menstrual

Shiksha Abhiyan and NGO hygiene management through

S A C R E D ) c a l l e d D a i l y Accredited Social Health Activists

Handwashing for an Ailment-free (ASHAs), Anganwadi Workers

Life (DHaAL) in February 2014 (AWWs) and Auxiliary Nurses and

before the launch of Clean School Midwives (ANMs).

THE INTERVENTION AND HOW IT WAS SCALED UP

4


5

The DHaAL project included a the 50 schools.

strong communication component

delivered through a contact drive The DHaAL project also included

wherein t ra ined promoters training of the 50 ZP school

(outreach workers) visited the teachers on MHM. The teachers

designated schools every week went back to their schools

and conducted activities related to equipped and confident assuring

HWWS and MHM. The DhaAL the trainer that they would take

project showed great impact on the regular sessions on the topic in

awareness level and behaviour small numbers so that quality

change related to the MHM interaction can be

component in particular within all

FACTSHEET: MHM IMPLEMENTATION THROUGH DHaAL IN JALNA- 2014

No. of project schools covered

50

No. of students covered 7549 ( Boys - 3656, Girls - 3893 ) No. of Head Masters trained 50 Orientation of SMC members & teachers on DHaAL

514

No. of SMC members trained 1021 ( Male – 580, Female – 441 ) No. of nodal teachers trained 50 No. of lady teachers trained on Menstrual Hygiene Management ( MHM )

28

Orientation of Child Cabinet & Meena Raju Manch members on DHaAL

1229

Meena Raju Manch & Child Cabinet members trained

1005

Mass hand washing station created

49

Contact drive 10 Promoters engaged for 3 months to conduct 12 sessions with the school children.

Ensuring availability of soap Official quota of soap insufficient but children bringing their own soap.

Repair & maintenance of School toilets and urinals

Baseline survey revealed their poor condition. Estimates included in School Development Plan. Could not carry out due to lack of funds.

Monitoring of WASH facilities and practices

Will continue through Nodal Teachers & DHaAL Monitors.

School Development Plan Prepared comprehensive plan for all the 50 project schools.

Sustainability Nodal Teachers, HMs and SMCs should ensure continuance of hand washing practice and maintain hand washing stations in good condition.


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done with the girls consistently. Deshbhratar lauded the project

Repo r t s f r om the g round and asked UNICEF Maharashtra

suggested that due to the MHM to scale-up the MHM programme

component, school girls had for the to each and every one of the 1,209

first time ever broken their silence ZP schools in the district.

on menstruation and begun talking The MHM programme was

about it; the component had been introduced in Osmanabad district

delivered to not just girls who were in October 2014 in line with the

in the menstruating age group but Swachch Bhara t Swachch

also to pre-pubescent girls, that is, Vidyalaya campaign of the

girls who would soon attain government of India based on the

menarche. In addition to this, the learning of Jalna. It has covered all

awareness campaign had led to 480 upper primary schools run by

many schools developing the the Zilla Parishad across 8 blocks.

necessary infrastructure – clean, done with the girls consistently.

safe, separate toilets for girls, with Repo r t s f r om the g round

running water, soap and dustbins – suggested that due to the MHM

for girls to access. component, school girls had for the

Taking note of these advances, the first time ever broken their silence

then Chief Executive Officer of the on menstruation and begun talking

Zilla Parishad of Jalna Ms. Prerna about it; the component had been


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delivered to not just girls who were The MHM programme was

in the menstruating age group but introduced in Osmanabad district

also to pre-pubescent girls, that is, in October 2014 in line with the

girls who would soon attain Swachch Bhara t Swachch

menarche. In addition to this, the Vidyalaya campaign of the

awareness campaign had led to government of India based on the

many schools developing the learning of Jalna. It has covered all

necessary infrastructure – clean, 480 upper primary schools run by

safe, separate toilets for girls, with the Zilla Parishad across 8 blocks.

running water, soap and dustbins –

for girls to access.

Taking note of these advances, the The MHM programme has been

then Chief Executive Officer of the implemented meticulously at the

Zilla Parishad of Jalna Ms. Prerna district level in both Jalna and

Deshbhratar lauded the project Osmanabad, and at the block level

and asked UNICEF Maharashtra as well to ensure that every girl

to scale-up the MHM programme from Standard 6 onwards in every

to each and every one of the 1,209 village is reached.

ZP schools in the district.

COVERAGE


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CONVERGENCE WITH LINE DEPARTMENTS

monitoring of the programme.

Effective coordination between the

Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM)

and Education has been of prime Pulling off the MHM initiative has

importance at both the district and been a herculean task. And it

block levels. To strengthen the wouldn't have been possible

implementation and smooth w i t h o u t c o n v e r g e n c e a n d

running of activities, the Block coordination among the relevant

Resource Centres and Key line departments throughout the

Resource Centres under SBM implementation of the programme.

have had to be involved as well. In The MHM programme in both

schools where there are no female districts has been a multi-sectorial

teacher, AWWs had to be roped in. initiative. Different sectors and

departments have had to work

together, under the guidance of the

ZP CEO's office, to ensure the

proper implementat ion and

JALNA OSMANABAD

Total no. of ZP schools 1,558 1,089

No. of Upper Primary

Schools

602 480

No. of Schools that have lady

teachers

403 400

No. of girls in ZP schools

targeted

23715 18,000

No. of girls actually

covered/reached in ZP

schools

23715 9763

No. of drop-outs targeted NA 6,000

No. of drop-outs

covered/reached

NA 947

No. of master trainers trained 50 50

No. of lady teachers trained 551 378

No. of Anganwadi

Supervisors trained

NA 67

No. of Anganwadi Workers

trained

NA 1664

The MHM programme in both

districts has been a multi-

sectorial initiative.


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At the district level, the following the Block Development Officers,

departments/officials have been the Block Resource Centres

involved in the implementation: the (under SBM), the Block Education

Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) Officers, the Extension Officer

Cell, the District Education Officer, ( E d u c a t i o n ) , t h e C h i l d

t h e G e n d e r C o o r d i n a t o r Development Project Officer

( E d u c a t i o n ) , t h e D i s t r i c t (ICDS),, Aanganwadi supevisors,

Programme Officer and the ICDS. and Block Gender Coordinator

(Education),

At the block-level, the following

officials have been involved in the Each office/officer has had a

implementation of the programme: specific duty to perform.

Education

SBM (WSD)

ICDS (WCD)ICDS

(WCD)ICDS

(WCD)

ZILLAPARISHAD

DEPARTMENT / MACHINERY

ROLE- CONVERGENCE

ZP Coordination with BDOs; official communication to concerned departments and officials; hold core group meetings for coordination

SBM Funding, monitoring, facilitation; plan for training, material for training; orientation of stakeholders; organise Sharing meeting

Education Access to teachers, HMs; organise trainings

ICDS (WCD) Access to ICDS functionaries- AW supervisors and workers; coordination, organise trainings


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STRATEGY puberty and menstruation related

issues;

?Dovetailing of MHM with current ?Overall Components of the

district level ZP initatives strategy

?Convergence and coordination ?Advocacy towards district-level

a m o n g t h e r e l e v a n t l i n e stakeholders to ensure that

departments throughout the appropriate attention to MHM is

implementation of the programmepaid within strategies and

?Crea t i ng awa reness t o programmes, along with ensuring

overcome the silence and break t h e n e c e s s a r y a c t i o n ,

the taboos within the broader accountability and financing

soc ie ty, communi t ies , and ?;Providing training for teachers

especially among family members.about best practices around MHM

as to become empathetic to girls' To scale up the MHM programme needs and are able to conduct in Jalna and to roll it out in MHM related trainings with girl and Osmanabad, detailed planning boy students; was required at the preparatory

?Creating a MHM focal teacher stage. This required coordination in each school;Building a pool of between all the line master trainers at the state and departments, namely, SBM, district level to assure training or Education, ICDS (WCD). teachers (ToT) at scale; Important numbers

?Making IEC materials on MHM

and puberty available at the

school, community resource

centres and AWCs, which can be

used for facilitation of education

sessions and for distribution to

read, and share with their families;

?Contact drive focusing on IPC

for MHM among adolescent girls

for an extended period of time that

would include handholding by

teachers

?Encouring School clubs/MHM

councils for girls to strengthen peer

support;

?Involving various frontline

workers and SHGs in reaching out

to adolescent girls and boys on

had to be

ascertained before trainings could

be planned and copies of IEC

material could be printed.

After completing the necessary

ground work, the total number of

schools ((including KGBVs)

selected for the MHM intervention,

the total number of girls to be

reached, the number of teachers to

be trained and the number of

frontline workers like AWWs to be

trained were identified.

In schools where there was no

female teacher present, an

alternative plan was thrashed out.


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This involved connecting these village could be trained to reach

schools to the nearest trained these girls and impart the MHM

within a 5-kilometre radius. The programme to them. All this called

Kendra Pramukhs (cluster heads) for close convergence between

were entrusted with the task of ICDS, Education and SBM.

connecting these schools to

trained teachers. Based on the overall strategy an

Operational Plan was drawn out

Covering adolescent girls who had including the various activities as

dropped out of school due to depicted below:

economic difficulties, lack of

access to schools proved to be a

bigger challenge. It was decided

that Anganwadi Workers in each

Connecting schools to trained

teachers and trained

Anganwadi workers to girls

who had dropped out of school

required a high degree of

coordination


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BUDGET

THE TRAINING

?Training at block levels

Printing of IEC materials &

Photocopy of modules As per the DISE 13-14 data there

?S h a r i n g / f e e d b a c k are 18136 upper primary and

meetingssecondary ZP schools in rural

?Human ResourceMaharashtra reaching out to

?Monitoring and reporting5,04,767 school going adolescent

?Fun Activities/competitions at girls (6th Standard and above)

the school levelcovering 34 districts. It also

?Monitoring and reporting (20% covers KGBVs (residential

of the total cost will be the schools for girls under the

monitoring and reporting of the Education Department).

activit ies by NGO/CSO. In With the help of the above figures,

Maharashtra the KRCs selected the average number of schools

for sanitation activities have been (upper primary and secondary ZP

engaged for th is ac t iv i ty )schools) calculated per district is

500 and average number of

adolescent girls (6th Standard and

above) is 15000.The trainings took place at three

The budget for 500 upper primary levels:

and secondary ZP schools

reaching out to nearly 15000 1. District level – Training of Master

adolescent school going girls (6th Trainers (MTs) Workers

Standard and above) in each

district including 50 master trainers 2. Block-level – Training of Zilla

and 500 nodal teachers (inclusive Parishad school teachers and

of master trainers) would be Rs. Anganwadi Workers

14,15,000. That means that the

estimated cost per adolescent girl 3. Village-level – Training of girl

for this kind of activity is Rs. 95.students in ZP schools, KGBVs

The budget includes the costs for and drop-outs

capacity building of teachers and

all the expenses that is required to The district- and block-level

reach out to and communicate with trainings spanned one day. Each

every adolescent girl in school in session had a maximum of 40

the particular district within the participants – lady teachers who

state.teach Standard 6 to 10.

The budget includes the following

line items:

?Training at the District level


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During these training sessions, the ?developed insights into creating

participants an enabling environment for the

?understood the importance of girls to discuss and ask questions

menstrual hygiene management about MHM

and the havoc that ignorance was ?learned how to implement at the

wrecking on girls. school-level.

?understood their role in

imparting knowledge and skills


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The master trainers were specially anecdotes in order to make the

told to make the sessions training experience more inclusive

interactive, to cite real life and participative.

examples and share personal

I trained 45 ZP school teachers. At first everyone felt uncomfortable and hesitant. For the first half an hour nobody spoke. I used games to break the ice. Slowly the teachers began opening up and then there was no looking back!

Shamal TalepireMaster TrainerRaghuchivadi, Osmanabad

While training the 26 Anganwadi Workers who report to me, I told them about my first period, something I had never shared with anyone before. It was a most liberating experience to do so. Ab hum sabne chuppi todi hai (Now we have all broken our silence) It is so ironic because I am now about to reach menopause!

Surekha JagdaleAWS & Master TrainerUprah Circle, Osmanabad

The v i l lage- leve l t ra in ings ?learned to hygienically manage

spanned six months. It included all their period without fear of shame

girls from Standard 6 onwards, and embarrassment

both girls who had entered the ?opened up and now speak

menstruating phase and those freely about menstruation to their

who were yet to attain menarche. peers and teachers.

During the sessions, the girls

?received accurate knowledge

on MHM and felt supported in

school.


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The MHM training taught me to reject superstitions related to menstruation at the age of 43! To encourage girls to open on the subject, I told them about my experience of my first period– how I had thought that I had injured myself while climbing trees.

Tabassum SheikhZP TeacherRaghuchivadi, Osmanabad

Earlier mothers used to stop us from talking to their daughters about menstruation. Now the girls feel so empowered that they have started confronting superstitious beliefs and challenging old conventions. It is heartening to see this.

Vanita Londhe

AWS & Master Trainer

Bembli, Osmanabad

THE MATERIAL ?Audio-Visuals by different

organisations

UNICEF Maharashtra provided A separate shel l -shaped technical support to the MHM booklet 'Mahsik Padi Babt Maze programme in both districts not Mat' (Menstruation and My Rights) only in terms of training the was distributed among the ZP t ra ine rs (ToT) bu t a l so school teachers, KGBV teachers designing the training material and AWWs to refer to during the that was used during the village-level sessions and circulate district-, block- and village-level among the girls. This booklet training sessions. became an instant hit with the girls!Specific materials were used to

a i d i n t e r p e r s o n a l

communication on MHM. These

included

?'Divya chi Gosht'- Flip Chart,

UNICEF, Maharashtra


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STORIESNimgaon: An adolescent photocopies book on MHM, urges mother to switch to sanitary napkins

When the teacher at the Zilla Parishad school in Nimgaon village in Jalna district introduced a pale

green shell-shaped book to a group of 30 adolescent girls, one of them – a wide-eyed and otherwise

talkative 12-year-old - fell silent and gaped agog. Kiran Borde sat rapt in attention, drinking in everything

that her teacher P.S. Indulkar was saying about a new topic she had recently introduced to them –

mahsik paadi (menstruation). Indulkar, who underwent training to deliver the MHM programme in her

school, said, “All the girls found the topic fascinating and eagerly pored over the booklet. I had only 4

copies of it so the girls had to share it among themselves during the session. But Kiran asked if she

could take it home with her. I was surprised at her unusual request and what she was planning to do with

it. After cautioning her to take good care of the booklet, I permitted to her to take it home for a few days.”

No one knew what Kiran had in mind. The Standard 6 student took the book home and showed it to all the

women in the joint family set-up: her mother, aunts, older sisters and grandmother. As she had

anticipated, they too shared her interest in the subject. In just a couple of sessions, young Kiran had

recognised how important the subject of good menstrual hygiene was and how vital it was to spread

awareness. Kiran became the ambassador of MHM in her family. She was so keen to have the booklet at

home for the women to refer to at all times that she decided to get a photocopy made. But sadly there

was no Photostat shop in Nimgaon. So the feisty girl begged her father to take the booklet with him on

his next visit to the block centre Bhokardan, an 11-kilometre bus journey away, to get a copy of it made

there! “Just imagine it. A girl in a village where grown-ups still shy away from speaking about

menstruation, convincing a man, her father, to carry a booklet on what is called a ‘female issue’ to a town

to make a photocopy of it! It is unheard of and truly revolutionary!,” says an amazed Indulkar. That’s not

all. Kiran’s mother has since switched from cloth wads to using sanitary napkins, after her persistent

daughter convinced her that it was the right choice!


18

When the teacher at the Zilla Parishad school in Nimgaon village in Jalna district introduced a pale

green shell-shaped book to a group of 30 adolescent girls, one of them – a wide-eyed and otherwise

talkative 12-year-old - fell silent and gaped agog. Kiran Borde sat rapt in attention, drinking in everything

that her teacher P.S. Indulkar was saying about a new topic she had recently introduced to them –

mahsik paadi (menstruation). Indulkar, who underwent training to deliver the MHM programme in her

school, said, “All the girls found the topic fascinating and eagerly pored over the booklet. I had only 4

copies of it so the girls had to share it among themselves during the session. But Kiran asked if she

could take it home with her. I was surprised at her unusual request and what she was planning to do with

it. After cautioning her to take good care of the booklet, I permitted to her to take it home for a few days.”

No one knew what Kiran had in mind. The Standard 6 student took the book home and showed it to all the

women in the joint family set-up: her mother, aunts, older sisters and grandmother. As she had

anticipated, they too shared her interest in the subject. In just a couple of sessions, young Kiran had

recognised how important the subject of good menstrual hygiene was and how vital it was to spread

awareness. Kiran became the ambassador of MHM in her family. She was so keen to have the booklet at

home for the women to refer to at all times that she decided to get a photocopy made. But sadly there

was no Photostat shop in Nimgaon. So the feisty girl begged her father to take the booklet with him on

his next visit to the block centre Bhokardan, an 11-kilometre bus journey away, to get a copy of it made

there! “Just imagine it. A girl in a village where grown-ups still shy away from speaking about

menstruation, convincing a man, her father, to carry a booklet on what is called a ‘female issue’ to a town

to make a photocopy of it! It is unheard of and truly revolutionary!,” says an amazed Indulkar. That’s not

all. Kiran’s mother has since switched from cloth wads to using sanitary napkins, after her persistent

daughter convinced her that it was the right choice!

LINKAGE TO URJA vocational skills like tailoring.” Urja

sessions take place in the

Anganwadi Centres in the In Osmanabad district, the MHM

evening. And Urja girls who programme was linked to an

complete Standard 12 help run the existing initiative of the Zilla

AW during the summer vacations Parishad – Urja - which means

when the AWW is on leave. In this power. Urja aims at imparting life

way, Urja girls have proved to be skills training to non-school-going

major source of support to the girls/dropouts in the 11 to 19 years

AWWs. age group. The initiative was

kicked off in October 2014 and has As mentioned earlier, UNICEF had

covered 6,500 girls in the district so suggested to the Zilla Parishad

far. that Anganwadi Workers be roped

in to teach MHM to the 6,000 out-Under the programme which falls

of-school 12 to 16 year old girls in within the ambit of the ICDS, one

the district. As Urja was already drop-out is identified in each

working with this demographic, village. She is then invited for a

UNICEF suggested a linkage day-long training workshop at

between the Swachh Bharat which she is taught the basics of

Mission which under which MHM nutrition, menstrual hygiene

falls, and the ICDS – under which management, the ICDS, the

both Urja and the Anganwadi functioning of Gram Panchayat,

Workers come. “The linkage has banking and important schemes.

been made but it needs to be This URJA-trained girl, often called

strengthened”, reports the Deputy “Urja tai” goes back to her village

CEO, ICDS.and forms a group of all girls who

are drop-outs. They met once a

While Anganwadi Workers have week and the Urja tai imparts

played a major role in taking the training to them.

MHM programme to the 6,000

drop-outs, a number of Urja tais Says Tukaram Nawale, the Deputy

too can be credited with the same. CEO, ICDS, “The programme has

Like Pooja Kasbe.empowered many several girls to

c o m p l e t e t h e i r s c h o o l i n g

(Standard 12) through the open

school forum, acquire technical

skills like banking - nearly 3000 of

them have opened individual or

group savings accounts - and


STORIESBembli: “MHM is transforming lives”

If there is anyone who swears by this statement it is Pooja Kasbe, the URJA tai of Bembli village in

Osmanabad district. The 18-year-old girl, who dropped out of school after failing to clear her Standard

10 board exams, was selected for the Urja training by the Anganwadi Worker of the village in October

2014. “For a year I sat at home, doing household chores. But Gaikwad madam, the AWW saw potential in

me. It is because of her that I attended this life-altering training and today I am in a position to mould the

lives of drop-outs like me,” says Pooja.

Pooja’s formed an Urja group in Bembli comprising 16 drop-outs, a majority of whom works as farm

hands. Recalling the first time she introduced the topic of menstrual hygiene at a weekly meeting, Pooja

says, “At first none of the girls spoke. They felt shy and kept bursting into giggles. So I told them that I

was just like all of them and even told them about my first period. This broke the ice and soon the girls

started asking me questions about whether the sanitary napkins that they had seen in advertisements

on television were better than the wads of cloth that all of them had been using. I gave them the right

information and told those who couldn’t afford to switch to napkins how to hygienically wash and dry

the cloth wads.”

When asked about what has been her single biggest success in imparting the MHM module to the girls,

Pooja says, “I can proudly say that I have not one but two success stories to report. One, that a girl who

used to be anaemic gradually became healthy after I told her how to pay attention to her nutrition intake,

what foods to eat as she had attained menarche. And two, that the girls’ mothers now come up to me and

thank me for discussing this taboo topic with their daughters and promoting their health.”

19


20

RESULTS CEO, WATSAN, ‘The MHM

in te rven t ion has no t on ly

encouraged girls to break their The MHM programme has made

silence on the subject but also much headway since it was

changed the vocabulary and the i n t r o d u c e d i n J a l n a a n d

associated mindset through which Osmanabad. The impact is

menstruation is perceived and palpable. The results have been

described. During the trainings, the three-fold.

master trainers, the teachers as

well as the girls are all made to 1. Girls have begun talking

realise that menstruation is not a freely about menstruation: The

problem, samasya (issue) or MHM programme has been a

adchan (hurdle).”paradigm-shifting exercise. Says

Rajendra Tumbakale, the Deputy

STORIESUjjainpuri:“ I have periods and I am not afraid to talk about it”

Asha Kamble, a middle school teacher at the Zilla Parishad school in Ujjainpuri in Badnapur block of

Jalna district was feeling partly excited and partly nervous. This was the day she had been gearing up

for. The sessions before this one had been filled with ice-breakers, games and fun activities to engage a

group of 34 adolescent girls on the subject of their health. By getting the girls to discuss their diet and

daily routines, Asha had strategically prepared the ground to broach and discuss a sensitive subject –

menstruation and the importance of good menstrual hygiene. But would the girls follow her cues and

open up?

The girls, from Standard 6 to 8, trailed into the classroom in single file and sat down on nylon mats that

Asha had laid out for them on the floor. Asha cleared her throat for silence and the girls fell quiet, looking


21

at her eagerly. What would Asha madam teach them today? “Today I’m going to tell you a little story,”

Asha began. “I was around your age when one day upon returning home from school I noticed a small

dark red stain, behind on my school tunic. I felt scared as I didn’t know what to make of it. I didn’t know

whom to go to, or what to say so I locked myself into the toilet and cried for half an hour. My elder sister

Shashikala noticed my odd behaviour and immediately understood. She coaxed me out of the toilet, sat

me down, put a comforting hand on my shoulder and told me that it was nothing to cry about. You have

begun your mahsik padi (monthly period). It is perfectly normal and all girls of our age experience it.

Shashikala then gifted me new bangles and sweets to make me realise that it was actually a cause for

celebration. A celebration of the fact that I was a healthy girl. How many of you have experienced this?”

There! Asha had said the M word. At first there was silence. The girls began looking at each other. And

slowly a few hands were raised.

The first one to speak up was Pragati Kamode who studies in Standard 8. “The

same thing happened to me Madam! It is almost as if you were sharing my

story,” said Pragati. Emboldened by P ragati, a few other girls followed suit. It

was then t hat Asha realised that 21 girls in the group had recently attained

menarche. But only 12 of them had known about menstruation beforehand. 4

out of the 21 use sanitary napkins. The rest come from poor families and so use

old cloth.

Asha then spoke to the girls about taboos and superstitious beliefs and the need to disregard them. She

encouraged the girls to share their personal experiences. Anjali Kapse of Standard 7 shared, “I am made

to do all household chores but when I have my period my mother stops me from going near the puja

room in our house and entering the kitchen. She says it is because I am impure and could bring on a

curse.” Pooja Sormare of Standard 8 shared, “My mother says it is ‘kawlashula’. She says I mustn’t tell

2. The MHM intervention has Receiving correct information

reached not only girls who have before their minds are bogged

attained menarche but those down with superstitious beliefs and

who are yet to attain menarche: practices mentally, emotionally and

psychologically prepares pre-

The intervention is based on the pubescent girls for their menstrual

b e l i e f t h a t k n o w l e d g e i s cycle and spares them the fear and

empowerment. And this has truly humiliation that plagues a girl who

been the case with a large number knows nothing about it.

of girls learning about this vital life

process even before it begins.


STORIESPiripimpalgaon: Bend it like Shital and friends

22

The school bell is about to ring for recess. A group of petite adolescent girls at the Zilla Parishad in

Piripimpagan in Bandrapur block of Jalna are waiting eagerly for it go off. Not one of these 13-year-old

village girls has begun having her periods. So none of them knows about menstruation, right?

Wrong!

“You can ask us anything about menstruation and we can answer,” grins 13-year-old Shital Lokhande.

Her friend Lakshmi Waghmare joins in, “I used to watch my mother washing and hanging old strips of

cloth to dry on some days. I used to think it was a handkerchief.” So who told the girls about

menstruation, if not their mothers? “Madam has taken sessions with us and told us all about mahsik

padi. She said don’t be scared when yours begins and don’t be afraid to attend school on those days,”

says Pooja Pople of Standard 6.

The bell suddenly rings and the girls race out into the school yard in the scorching sun. Where are they

off to? To play sports of course!

Shital and her friends are a part of the school’s sports team and they have won laurels for the school in

many sports including Kabaddi. “There’s no reason why we will stop playing sports when we have our

periods. It is not an illness. It is a natural and healthy body function in girls. When my periods begin, I will

do as madam said: make sure that I eat nutritious, iron-rich foods so that I feel strong and fit. We will be

healthy girls and continue winning trophies like this one, doing our parents, school and village proud,”

says Shital as she poses with her teammates with all the trophies they have won in recent sports

tournaments.


23

B E S T P R A C T I C E S & INNOVATIONS

educated woman but I have

traveled to many parts of India

because my husband used to

serve in the Army. Traveling to A Model Mother: In most cultures,

different places, meeting different a mother is most often the first

people opened my mind. I have person to who tells her daughter

been using sanitary napkins for 16 who is about to attain puberty

years. So naturally, I recommend about menstruation. In rural

them to my daughter.“Maharashtra, a majority of

mothers who broach the subject Says Mainabai Gaikwad, the

emphasis more on the don’ts and teacher at Priyanka’s school who

less on the do’s, telling their has been trained on MHM,

d a u g h t e r s m o r e a b o u t “Mothers like Sarita are a delight. I

superstitious beliefs to follow wish more mothers would follow

instead of the importance of good her example. She takes such good

menstrual hygiene. And that’s why care of her daughter, especially

Sarita Kamble, a resident of during Priyanka’s periods. She

Saangvi Mardi village in Tuljapur makes her bathe properly and

block of Osmanabad district is a change the sanitary napkin twice a

wonderful exception. day. Others girls don’t have such

experiences with their mothers in When this mother of three children

their homes. When most girls begin – a daughter and two sons –

menstruating, they don’t come to noticed that her 12-year-old

school for 9-10 days at a stretch. daughter Priyanka had suddenly

But not Priyanka. She has attended b e c o m e s h y a n d l a c k i n g

school regularly and never missed confidence, she knew it was time

a day during her periods.”to have “the talk”. Says Sarita, “I

instinctively knew that Priyanka Sarita adds, “Awareness about

had started menstruating. She was MHM has risen in Saangvi Mardi.

in Standard 5 at that time. I told her Today my daughter and her friends

that it was a normal process that have begun discussing the subject

the female body experiences and noticing various sanitary

every month for about 30 years in napkin advertisements on TV. This

her lifetime. I showed her a was not the case among this age

sanitary napkin and taught her how group even two years ago!”

to use it.” Unlike others, for this

mother using cloth was out of the

question. “I may not be very

23


B E S T P R A C T I C E S & INNOVATIONS

mothers in order to dispel myths

su r round ing mens t rua t i on ,

promote good habits and to drive

the message home.” Melava – A One-Stop Info Hub on

MHM: Kishori melavas– an Speaking about the second

interactive session for adolescent melava, Tabassum says, “We

girls and young women on gender organised that a fortnight after the

and development issues are first melava. We celebrated it as

common practice in UNICEF Kishori Diwas (Adolescent Girls

project areas across sectors in Day). This time we invited a

Maharashtra. A pair of Zilla qualified doctor to speak to the girls

Parishad teachers who underwent about their health.”

training as Master Trainers

decided to use the concept to Shamal and Tabassum strongly

p romote awareness about recommend emulating their

menstruation in their village of example to other teachers. “It was

Raghuchivadi in Osmanabad no-cost-high-impact intiative. We

district. Shamal Talepire and didn’t have to spend a single rupee

Tabassum Sheikh brainstormed as the venue was a classroom in

and took the initiative all on their our school, the material displayed

own to organise two such melavas. were charts and posters that we

Says Shamal, “We organised the had been given during our MHM

first one on 23rd February 2015 training by the Zilla Parisad and

and covered various topics refreshments (tea) were provided

including cleanliness, nutrition, the to the attendees by our generous

practice of handwashing and Headmistress. The melavas were

menstrual hygiene management. a success and promoted greater

40 adolescent girls attended it. We awareness about MHM in

specially invited their mothers as Raghuchivadi, like we were

well. 35 mothers participated. We hoping,” they say.

felt it was necessary to include the

For more information, please contact:Yusuf Kabir, WASH Officer

United Nations Children’s FundField Office of Maharashtra

R2 B-Wing, Technopolis Building, Mahakali Caves Road, Near MIDC, Opp. Holy Family School, Andheri (East), Mumbai 400 060

Tel: (022) 26875174 [email protected], www.unicef.org


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