Students, Social Workers
“It has always been said that opportunity comes by chance. There is no prior information provided about that. It depends upon an individual how we use that opportunity. A similar kind of incident happened to us.
It started around this April when I heard one of my female staff members asking my mother for sanitary napkins. I heard her saying that there is a shortage of sanitary napkins in the market due to the lockdown. The lack of availability in the market made her ask my mother for the same. This sounded a bit disgruntled. I discussed it with my friend Tia over the phone. We both found it bizarre and disheartening too.
Hearing and discussing this, a thought crossed our minds to do something for these women. We thought we have heard our staff saying so but there can be many such women workers who must be facing this problem. Due to the shortage of Sanitary napkins, many migrant women and domestic workers have been facing this problem. Moreover, one working as a domestic worker doesn’t have owners who will give them the napkins daily. This will create a problem not only for them but also for another female worker. We thought of starting an initiative to help these female workers in maintaining their hygiene. Luckily our parents readily supported us in our effort when we discussed it with them.
We launched our initiative under the name ‘Aurat Arogya’ with a vision to reach out to every woman who is in need and provide them with sanitary napkins. At the initial level, we used our savings to purchase sanitary napkins; then used social media platforms to spread a word regarding our motive and advertising for the same to ask for funds. We are very grateful for the Bangalore Police who helped us and provided us their keen support in distributing sanitary napkins.
During lockdown, we have ditributed over 3000 sanitary napkins and we wish to raise this number. We have decided to continue this practice even after the lockdown and spread this campaign as far as possible. Our aim is to provide help to every woman out there in need. We urge people to help their female workers and spread awareness regarding sanitation. Even today, we have seen many women not using sanitary napkins during their menstrual days due to the lack of money. So we wish to reach as many women as possible. We want people to know that sanitary napkin is not a luxury, it’s a necessity for every woman.
Big and strong men don’t make a country strong … but strong women, strong mothers, strong sisters make a country strong. Hence, we must aim to make our women stronger and better. Today when we are aiming to establish equality in society, we must also keep in mind the hygiene and safety of women. A small step towards the hygiene of women is required at the individual level to maintain the strength and confidence of women.
We aim that our campaign will contribute to maintaining sanitation for women, to provide them with better options during the days they need care the most, do help them realize we stand there with them, and encourage women to maintain proper health. We must educate our female workers, staff members, maids who are unaware of facilities like sanitary napkins and provide them the required help to purchase them. Our small gesture can make their lives better.”
Instagram – @aurat.arogya
*The views expressed in the above article are of the writer and not Winged Club.