Move over the #10yearchallenge; here’s one that aims to bring about a big difference in the lives of girls with the #onegirlonepad challenge. Started by the Visakhapatnam chapter of the Aasya Foundation, the volunteers are encouraging women to post a one-minute video about menstrual health and hygiene with #aasyavizag or #onegirlonepad. The idea behind this is to raise awareness about menstrual health and bring about a change in the way menstruation is perceived.
Donate for a cause
Apart from uploading videos, the initiative is also encouraging people to donate at least one sanitary napkin to be distributed to girls and women in rural areas. “Over 88% of women do not have access to sanitary napkins in our country. Despite several initiatives by the government, many women still use old rags during their periods. There is no denying that this practice has a detrimental impact on health. We want to change that. We are planning to visit rural areas around the city every few months to conduct awareness campaigns,” says Tejaswi Vuppula, a member of the organisation, which also plans to conduct door-to-door collection of the napkins from a particular area every week.
Spreading awareness
Along with distributing sanitary napkins, the foundation also plans to host awareness programmes in government schools to educate girls about menstrual health, intimate hygiene, use of sanitary napkins and its proper disposal. “ During the programmes we plan to educate the girls about usage of menstrual cups and also the hygienic cleaning of washable and reusable sanitary napkins,” she says.
The initiative is an extension of the sanitary napkin collection drive that the foundation conducted during the devastating Kerala floods. “During that time, many organisations were collecting food and clothing; however, it occurred to me that many women would be in the need of sanitary napkins,” she says.
The initiative received an overwhelming response not just from Visakhapatnam but also from cities like Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The foundation managed to send over one tonne of groceries to the flood victims, which included cartons of sanitary napkins.
Aasya Foundation is spread across 13 cities and has over 1,000 volunteers. The Visakhapatnam-based chapter has 70 volunteers.
For details contact 9967378122.
