Aid to colour periods with hygiene...

Nov 8 2019 - 

Bapatla...a place where many educational institutions built successful persons in almost every sector. It is an hub for colleges of agriculture, engineering, agricultural engineering, food science, home science, arts and government municipal as well as private schools. This the place where i found myself to explore my dreams. Even though i lived in bapatla for four years i didn't know most of the streets and roads. During my graduation days i only knew cloak tower, bavahnarayana swamy temple and suryalanka beach. But when i return back to bapatla for my Ph D, i began to know more places. Not because of my Ph D program but due to membership in SWASA. Yes, ngo SWASA gives wings to my dreams, strength to my vision...and it brought my brainchild into reality as SWECHA, An awareness program on menstrual hygiene with perfect shape. 

When i first stated about my idea of awareness program on menstrual hygiene, SWASA's president told that it is brave step and  everyone under SWASA's umbrella agreed within nanoseconds. We discussed about outline of program with guidelines of my sister who is a Doctor. She is the one who enriched our program with knowledge and positive guidance. It took  two months to give birth to SWECHA, an awareness program to be conducted once in a month. 

And my journey continues balancing both studies and social activities. After getting permissions from all ends, after being postponed for second time due to various reasons, finally i reached school on flat traveling in road new to me. To fill colours of hygiene in lives of QUEENS, we conducted third day event of SWECHA, an awareness program on menstrual hygiene at REACH OUT HIGH SCHOOL AND HOSTEL, BAPATLA. Along with granting permission school principal sir showed great enthusiasm to conduct program as early as possible. 

 Students from various classes gathered in one classroom which was arranged for discussion. When we introduced about the program, girl students laughed, felt shy and hesitated to utter word PERIODS. Eventually after interaction with girl students they began to open up and felt free to share their opinion. While explaining menstrual cycle, students listened carefully as it may appear in exams and its like a revision class for them but in different words linked with stories. Then i asked them how to manage menstrual blood from staining and i got silence as an answer. This silence is not due to lack of knowledge but due to something else that stops them to express. May be no one ever expressed their views on periods earlier. So i told by myself, 'i manage my menstruation by following many steps. Just like you, during five days of menstruation, i use soap to wash my hands before and after cleaning vaginal blood. I take bath everyday and use washed and sun dried cloths.  I use sanitary napkins to hold blood flow by changing regularly. So how often do you change your pads.?' Girls saw each others faces to see anyone may answer. '2 times a day' one girl responded from a corner and her voice followed by another '3 time a day'.. 'Good...very good. I am impressed for listening your sweet voice my dear queens.' I hear sweet giggles from crowd. 'yes you are queens. You are not lesser than queen. It good to change menstrual aids eventually after getting soaked.. mostly one should change for every 4-6 hours based on flow. It is very essential to avoid rashes and  infections.'. One girl from crowd asked 'sister, what are menstrual aids.?!' I am overwhelmed on hearing another queen's voice..'menstrual aids or feminine hygiene devices are things we use to hold blood flow. Their are many types. First one is cloth pad, nothing but cloth folded and used to collect vaginal blood. When one is using cloth pads, one must wash it and dry under sun but not in shade to use it again. Otherwise it cant be used. Even now many womens in villages use cloth pads. Second one is pads, which are nothing but cotton arranged in layers with gel to hold blood and odour. These are not reusable and must be disposed properly  by wrapping in newspaper. Third one is tampon, which is long cylindrical in shape made of cotton. Tampon has to be inserted into middle opening in between legs i.e., vagina. It is not reusable and must be disposed by taking out and wrapping in news paper. And fourth one is menstrual cup, which is made up of medical grade silicone and is in cup or bell with stem shape hence its name is menstrual cup. It has to be folded into U shape by pressing with fingers to insert into vagina. After insertion, it will open into cup shape to collect blood. It is reusable. Cup has to be emptied by taking out by slightly turning it and to be washed and sterilized in hot water before using again.' i explained with diagrams and shown them menstrual aids.

Girls were thrilled after knowing these and with exclamation one girl asked me ' which one is better to use sister ?!.'. Every aid is best in managing menstruation. We have to choose it based on our comfort. Just like we have many types of dresses, frocks, chudidar, sarees, jeans..among all we prefer our choice right? In the same way its ours choice to pick any aid based on our comfort as we are not lesser than queen. Whichever aid we may use, we have to change it in every 4-6hours or immediately after getting soaked or filled whichever is earlier as delaying it may cause micro organism growth over pads or tampons that will cause direct infections. Leaving tampon inside vagina too long may lead to toxic shock syndrom due to bacterial infection, wearing pad for full day may lead to rashes and infection, using shade dried cloth pad may lead to urinary track infections, improper usage of menstrual cup may leads to bruises as well as toxic shock syndrom. We are quite lucky to have so many options to use with little care. Earlier these aids were not their and hence, women didn't stepped out of house. Now we cant sit at home as we want to hold prestigious places in society. Yes or no?'..Even before completion of my sentence i hear a roar "YES.." with that yes, i  realized we should strive to reach remote areas as guided earlier. Later i talked about health to be managed for rest of 23 days.  From silence to screams with smiles today programs journey is worth to be noted. I am pleased to express that we have reached first step in our journey that is SWECHA, FREEDOM TO TALK ABOUT PERIODS  and TO INCULCATE POSITIVITY TOWORDS PERIODS...

-Dasu Rama Sri Vineela...