Mythri Complete module

on Menstrual Hygiene awarenes

s for adolesce

nt girls

Using the videoWe are sure that you are waiting to see the video and download it!

But, before it is downloaded and used, we strongly recommend that the following guidelines be read and kept in mind, so that the sessions you intend to conduct can be more effective.

Clearly, this is not the only way of imparting awareness on Menstrual Hygiene effectively. However, in our experience we have found that the following methods work quite well.

Disclaimer

The contents of this video and presentation should not be substituted as

medical advise for problems related to menstruation.

Target group – Adolescent girls primarily from government schools in rural and urban locations across the state of Karnataka, India

OBJECTIVES:1. To address common myths and misconceptions regarding menstruation

2. To enable adolescent girls to overcome inhibitions to talk about menstruation and seek help when required

3. To impart awareness on maintaining personal hygiene during menstruation

4. To promote maintenance of hygiene regardless of personal preference of cloth or Sanitary Napkins to absorb menstrual flow

How we arrived at the content

Since 2010, we have reached out to over 5000 adolescent girls in rural and urban government schools. The content in the awareness video has been put together primarily based on the questions asked by adolescent girls in government schools we visited in Bangalore, Tumkur, Hoskote, Devanahalli, Kolar, Mangalore, Karwar, Gulbarga, Mandya and Chamrajnagar. While the questions came from the girls, we sought the answers through doctors and from the book on menstrual hygiene, published by the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). The contents therefore, focus largely on the concerns of adolescent girls and what they wish to know instead of what we feel they must know.

Guidelines for the Facilitator

Guidelines for the facilitator

1. Most schools we have visited, prefer a female facilitator to conduct the awareness session. If you are a male and wish to conduct the session, ensure that you have the consent of the school principal2. Get familiar with the contents of the video. This will help in equipping yourself for interactions with the girls3. Invite female school staff to be present for the session so that there is mutual comfort between students and staff and they can carry forward such interactions in your absence4. Request schools to invite mothers / female guardians to the session as the practises and encouragement at home is as important as in school

5. We encourage having this session separately for girl students so that they are more comfortable to open up and share their concerns6. The age group of students who can be invited to attend this session can start from 9 years (std. 5 onwards). The session will be equally important for those who are yet to attain puberty as well as those who have started menstruating7. Explain beforehand to the school staff that while discipline is good, we encourage girls to open up, speak and ask questions during the session and therefore teachers are requested to avoid repeatedly asking girls to maintain silence

Guidelines for the facilitator

The Session

Points to remember before you start the session:

• The session will be most effective only if the facilitator engages with the girls meaningfully before, in between and at the end of the video

• Showing the video alone at a stretch may not serve the purpose entirely

• Our objective is not to give information through one-sided monologues, but to enable girls to overcome their inhibitions and to talk about issues surrounding menstruation in a comfortable environment through interactive sessions, involving the female students, facilitators, teachers and mothers, if possible

Introduction: Overcoming Inhibitions

Overcoming Inhibitions

The previous picture pretty much summarizes how girls would react when you first announce the purpose of your visit. Most girls will avoid looking at you, some will giggle, some will feel extremely uncomfortable and some will be nervous that their problem might be highlighted in front of all.

So, how would you proceed?

Share your experience

Overcoming Inhibitions

Overcoming Inhibitions

If the girls have to open up to you, they first need to relate to you – as a female and more importantly, as someone who has been through what they are now going through.

We have found that when the facilitator initiates conversation by sharing their personal experience of how they felt as an adolescent who first attained puberty, an immediate and drastic change occurs and the girls begin to open up about their experiences and problems.

Girls reacting to the facilitator's experience

Overcoming Inhibitions

Do remember• Girls will only feel as comfortable to talk about menstruation as you

are. The minute you hesitate, feel awkward or show embarrassment, the girls pick it up and react accordingly.

• It is extremely important that as a facilitator you are comfortable to talk about your period and about menstruation, so that young girls realize that it is OK and can be spoken about.

• Adding humour to your story works wonders to lighten the atmosphere and to make girls relax and talk about their own stories.

• In some cases, it does take a while to get 1 or 2 girls to talk about their experiences, but it is worth the time as only then will the class, as a whole get truly comfortable to talk about menstruation.

Girls sharing their experiences with the class

Shirali, Uttar Kannada, 2011Dandeli, Karwar, 2013

Attiguppe, Bangalore, 2012Maddakanahalli, Tumkur, 2013

Using the Video - Mythri

Once you have helped girls overcome their initial inhibitions, you may proceed step-wise to talk about menstruation through the Animated Video provided. The contents of the video have been split into 3 parts to enable interactions and invite questions at relevant intervals. Links to access each part of the video online has been provided. The 3 parts are:

1. Common Questions – This covers the first set of questions which girls usually ask and are keen on knowing

2. Biological basics & Hygienic practices – This section covers the biology of what causes menstruation to occur. It also covers hygienic practices of using, cleaning and disposing cloth and Sanitary napkins

3. Personal hygiene & cleanliness – This section summarises the points covered so far, with focus on maintaining personal hygiene during menstruation

Part 1 – Common Questions

Part 1 – Common Questions

Now that girls seem more comfortable to learn about menstruation, it is a good idea to invite them to ask questions that they have regarding menstruation. Not only is this a good precursor to showing the first part of the video, it will also help in building curiosity among girls to know these answers and therefore, pay attention when the video is played. Some of the typical questions asked include:• Why do we have aches & pains during a period?• Is something wrong with me because my period occurs only

once in 2-3 months?• Isn’t menstrual blood impure, bad blood?

Following this, Part 1 of Mythri can be played.

Links to Introduction & Part 1

You can view the Introduction and Part 1 of the video at the following links:

Introduction - http://youtu.be/mBhMo040vp4

Part 1 - http://youtu.be/xGMUC_wQEEE

Following Part 1..

Before moving to part 2 of the video, interact and ask the girls if their questions have been answered and if anything needs to be explained again. If so, please take the time to slowly explain the aspects which they haven’t understood. Some of the important points which schools have asked us to repeat include

• How can we tell if the bleeding is heavy and when should we see a doctor for the same?

• How can girls keep track of their dates (menstrual cycle) and come prepared to school a few days before they get their period?

• Is it OK if the period occurs only once in 2-3 months?• What is white discharge?

Part 2 – Biological basics & use of hygienic practises

Part 2 – Biological basics

This part of the video is shown in answer to the question “Why does this happen only to girls?” or “Why do we need to menstruate at all?”. Often girls feel low about themselves and unfair that the process of menstruation affects only them and not boys.

Continuing to carry such a feeling impacts their self-esteem, their sense of dignity and affects their confidence. Therefore, it helps when the facilitator looks at the process of menstruation from a different angle – one of giving women the unique ability to reproduce and create life, and conveys the same to the students through part 2 of the video.

• Initiate conversations to prepare them for the next part of the video by asking them what means they use to absorb menstrual flow. Allow them to freely express whether it is a cloth or Sanitary Napkin.

• It is important to note that the lack of hygiene and problems due to

unhygienic practises arise due to improper use, be it with cloth or sanitary napkin, rather than the method itself. Therefore, we do NOT encourage girls to use one way over the other and instead leave it to their personal choice, affordability and preference after having explained how hygiene can be maintained with both methods.

• Seek answers from them on their current practises on using, cleaning and methods of disposing so that you obtain a better understanding of their practises and what needs to be corrected. At this stage, do not correct them. Allow them to express freely.

Part 2 – Use of hygienic practises

Link to Part 2

You can view Part 2 of the video at the following link:

Part 2 - http://youtu.be/FFpMvw_D7sE

Following Part 2..

Once part 2 has been shown, make sure they have understood which of their practices need to be improved/changed and why. Some of the commonly found incorrect practices include: • Using the same cloth/pad without changing for over 8 hours

when the flow is scanty• Drying the used, washed cloth indoors to prevent men from

seeing it • Disposing Sanitary napkins in toilets and water bodies• Sharing menstrual cloth among female family members• Unhygienic storage practices

Part 3 – Personal Hygiene & Cleanliness

Part 3 – Personal Hygiene & Cleanliness

This session can be initiated by asking girls what methods they currently use to maintain personal hygiene during menstruation, following which the video can be shown. It is important to stress on the following:• Use completely dried undergarments and cloth during

menstruation • Do not share your cloth with other family members• Take bath daily and keep your private parts clean after each

change of cloth/pad or visit to the toilet• Wash your hands thoroughly after each visit to the toilet

Link to Part 3

You can view Part 3 of the video at the following link:

Part 3 - http://youtu.be/lOtPha6pxgk

Open Discussions

Open Discussions

• Once the 3 parts of the video have been shown, the session can be open to invite the girls to ask any other question which has not been covered in the video.

• Often questions on religious and cultural practises such as not being allowed to visit temples generate a lot of curiosity among girls and they wish to know why.

• The facilitator must keep in mind that we need to respect individual religious and cultural practises and focus our talk primarily on those aspects which interfere with maintaining hygiene.

Typical Questions

Q. Why are we not allowed to visit temples during menstruation?

• Response: Traditionally, practises restricting women to stay indoors came into being to ensure that they get sufficient rest during menstruation. However, the same practises have continued to this day. While it is each person’s personal choice to visit a temple or not, please know that it has no relation to a woman being impure during menstruation. Menstruation is a natural, biological process.

Typical Questions

Q. Is it OK to consume period postponing pills during religious festivals which otherwise require us to stay away if we are menstruating?

• Response: While it is OK to consume such pills following a doctor’s advice once or perhaps twice a year due to unavoidable circumstances, it is preferable to stay away from artificially changing the course of your menstrual cycle. Delayed periods due to such pills could be painful, heavy and could be accompanied by facial acne due to the hormonal changes in the body. Although it is understandable that women feel embarrassed to announce that they are menstruating and hence be excused from attending religious ceremonies, it is more important to be concerned about the health implications by repeatedly swallowing pills

Typical Questions

Q. Disposed Sanitary Napkins attract snakes, causing a shaapa (curse) to the person who has used the pad, and might even cause their death• Response: There is no truth in this. This was probably invented to

prevent women from disposing Sanitary Napkins in the wrong manner.

Q. Does bleeding during menstruation cause pain in the vagina (often asked by girls who are yet to attain puberty)• Response: No. Unlike a wound causing blood to be discharged,

menstrual bleeding does not cause any pain in the area from where it is being discharged. However, aches and pains in the stomach, abdomen, legs, etc. are a normal process of menstruation and are called pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS)

Carrying it forward: Before you leave, make sure that you have handed a copy of the video to the school and formed a team of students and staff who are willing to carry forward the same to future batches. This will ensure that the process of imparting awareness doesn’t stop with you.

One on One sessions - Before concluding the session, inform the students that you will be available for one on one sessions if any of them wish to talk in private. Often, girls who are too shy to speak in front of the group will come forward during this time, after everyone else has vacated.

In conclusion - While the topic of menstruation itself is a serious one with impact on health and well-being, the manner in which it is handled need not be so, especially while talking to young girls. What girls need to know is that menstruation is a normal, natural process and the problems which they go through are universal and every woman goes through the same.

Thank you for your interest and patience in going through the guidelines. Here are all the links at a glance:

Introduction – http://youtu.be/mBhMo040vp4Part 1 – http://youtu.be/xGMUC_wQEEEPart 2 – http://youtu.be/FFpMvw_D7sEPart 3 – http://youtu.be/lOtPha6pxgk

We would love to hear your feedback.

Do write to us at mythrispeaks@yahoo.com with inputs, suggestions and to let us know how you intend to use this video.