Before 'Padman', this NGO made waves in Maharashtra’s tribal schools

Upasana has been providing free sanitary napkins to students in Bhiwandi taluka

Clean break:Upasana distributing sanitary napkins to students at the SK Chaudhari School in Medha village, Varjeshwari

Much before upcoming film Padman highlighted the importance of menstrual hygiene, a city-based NGO has been quietly working in this area, collecting sanitary pads and distributing them among tribal schoolgirls over the last two years.

This year, Upasana Foundation will be conducting an awareness campaign for visually impaired girls for the first time, as they won't be able to use visual aids to explain the importance of menstrual hygiene.

Based in Borivali, the NGO run by Saurabh and Dipti Kashalkar has been working in the field of social service for several years. Around two years ago, while working with medical students in rural and tribal areas, the Kashalkars realised that tribal girl students don’t have access to sanitary napkins. Upasana started with the SK Chaudhari School for tribal children in Medhe village, Vajreshwari, Bhiwandi. Ms. Kashalkar said, “Initially, the students weren’t comfortable talking about it. We had to spend time winning their trust with the help of female volunteers, and slowly educated them about the importance of menstrual hygiene.”

Upasana simultaneously started a collection drive for sanitary napkins to be given to the students every month. Eventually, it expanded its initiative to two more schools in Vajreshwari, and now donates close to 3,000 pads to 250 girl students in Vajreshwari every month. “We even let donors buy the pads in case they weren’t comfortable with donating money,” Ms. Kashalkar said.

Signs of change

In the next few months, Upasana members began observing a marked change in the girls. “The girls no longer hide sanitary pads we provide, and carry the bags openly back to their classrooms. We are purposely starting small so that we don't end up committing to more than we can manage. We also ensure the pads are affordable,” she added.

This year, Upasana aims to take it a step further by conducting the drive at a school for visually impaired and special children. “The visual aids we used in our earlier sessions will not be effective in this case. The drive is in the planning phase and we shall launch it soon,” Ms. Kashalkar.

Those interested in contributing can get in touch with Upasana on its website and social media pages.