Creating A Mission Statement
In rural schools in India, menstrual hygiene education is often avoided because of the societal customs, often implemented by families, to never speak of the subject. The girls in these villages have grown up thinking that menses is a negative thing and they are permanently tainted when they first get their period. While most people know that menses is a natural part of a woman’s body, the girls in this villages still have no idea what menses is or why it happens, they only see it as a time where they must end their schooling to stay home and work with the family because they are no longer pure enough to be a part of society.
While most people miss school when they are sick, they usually avoid human contact in order to get better and prevent passing on the virus to someone else. In underdeveloped regions in India, the menstrual cycle is treated the same way, like a disease that can go away after a few days of avoiding human contact. Could you imagine not going to school for a reason as simple as you were on your period? While it may seem shocking to people in first world cities, the practice is much more common than we care to admit.
UNICEF reports that “in countries where menstrual hygiene is taboo, girls in puberty are typically absent for 20% of the school year”. Most girls drop out at around 11 to 12-years-old, and miss school not simply because they fear being teased by their classmates if they show stains from their period, but also because they are not educated about their periods, and their need for safe and clean facilities is not prioritized.
After my time in India, I started to think of ways that I could continue helping these girls through their journey with menses and realized that they do not have access to the products we have in America such as sanitary napkins, pads, menstrual cups, etc. The Kanya Team and I have created a platform which will allow school girls to have access to these items for no cost. The social venture will be owned by the women in the community which will enhance their empowerment. It will also generate employment for women and alleviate poverty in their families. Using this profit from this self sustaining machine, we will donate sanitary napkins for the school girls in the Burgula village which will lead to a 25% decrease in the dropout rate of girls due to menstruation.
