Fourteen government schools in Tiruchi district are to benefit from a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative to construct girl-friendly toilets and impart menstrual hygiene management education in rural areas.
Overseen by local water and sanitation non-governmental organisation Gramalaya, the ₹ 1 crore project has been funded by Bank of America through its Mumbai-based subsidiary DSP Merril Lynch Capital. It was started in April 2016 and is expected to get over in March this year. The project expects to serve 10,000 adolescent school girls.
On January 12, two toilet complexes under the project were inaugurated in the Government Higher Secondary School, in Ayyampalayam, Musiri and Puthanatham Government Higher Secondary School. All the schools in the project were chosen in consultation with the Chief Education Officer of the district.
“Each building is a 345 sq. ft. unit that houses urinals and toilets, an incinerator for used sanitary napkins and hand washing facilities, besides a separate toilet for female teachers,” said S. Damodaran, founder and director of Gramalaya. “We consulted the teachers and students of each school before finalising the design of the toilets,” he added.
Four Gramalaya health educators are looking after the projects, which further envisages training senior girl students to become peer group teachers in menstrual hygiene education across the rural areas. “We have trained 3,773 school girls in menstrual hygiene education, and hope that they will help to create awareness of puberty-related health issues among their peers,” said Mr. Damodaran. Reusable cloth sanitary pads are being provided by Gramalaya.
“We have noticed that 71% of adolescent girls are ill-informed about menstruation, and some 88% of women are using unhygienic sanitary aids. The incidence of reproductive tract infection goes up by 70% due to use of wrong feminine napkins,” said Mr. Damodaran.
