REPORT ON AN AWARENESS SESSION ‘MENSTRUAL CYCLE: LET’S TALK ABOUT IT’

Date: 23 November 2023

Venue: Anganwadi, Berka Village (Sohna)

Event Type: Awareness Session

Mode of Activity: Offline

Target Group: Girls and Women of Berka Village

Coordinator: Dr Neeraj Kumari and Dr Mina Yadav

Organized by: NSS, K R Mangalam University, Gurugram

Participants: 29 including NSS volunteers, girls and women of Berka Village

Introduction:

Menstrual Health and Hygiene (MHH) is essential to the well-being and empowerment of women and adolescent girls. Globally, over 300 million women experience menstruation daily, yet approximately 500 million face challenges in accessing proper menstrual products and suitable facilities for menstrual hygiene management (MHM). To aware the women and girls about the menstruation cycle, NSS, K R Mangalam University organized an awareness session on “Menstrual Cycle: Let’s Talk about it” as an extension activity at Anganwadi, Berka village.

Objective:

To enhance participants’ knowledge and understanding of the menstrual cycle, including its biological processes, hormonal changes, and the overall impact on physical and emotional well-being.
Raise awareness about menstrual health and hygiene, emphasizing the importance of maintaining good menstrual hygiene practices for overall health and well-being.

Content:

The event was started by NSS volunteers Ms Muskan and Ms Simran where they briefed about the session. They told that in rural areas, a large number of adolescent girls from rural areas of India are still not aware about issues related to menstruation and maintaining personal hygiene during this period and dealing with associated physical problems. They usually don ‘t get a proper platform to get information or discuss such issues. During the session, all associated topics related to menstruation were explained to adolescent girls and women, like what is menstruation, calculation of the period, physical problems faced by girls and women during their periods and ways to deal with it, maintaining personal hygiene during this period and importance of maintaining hygiene, avoiding the traditional methods of using dirty cloths and promoting use of sanitary napkins, etc. Traditional myths and misconceptions in rural areas related to menstruation were discussed. After the awareness session, a live demonstration of the identification of good sanitary napkins was given by the NSS volunteers.

Conclusion:

After the session and demonstration, Dr Neeraj and Dr Mina Yadav expressed their gratitude to village women and girls and cleared their doul?ts. Participants gained valuable insights into the biological processes, health implications, and socio-cultural aspects of menstruation.

Outcomes:

The session contributed to enhanced menstrual hygiene management practices, with participants gaining practical guidance on the selection and use of menstrual products, cleanliness, and accessing necessary resources.