Hi there! 

I am Ipsita Choudhury, a final year Undergraduate Chemistry student from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata. I come from Durgapur, a city in the West Bardhaman district of West Bengal. I am currently living with my parents- my father is a retired service man and my mother is a housewife who gives tuitions to children
in the locality as a hobby, as my college is yet to reopen. Growing up, I saw my parents go out of their way to help people who were not as privileged as we were and now I am hoping I can carry on the tradition and bring about some meaningful change.

I have chosen to work on the Sukhad Project for Menstrual Hygiene and there are both long-term and immediate reasons for it. Even though I come from a fairly progressive family, menstruation has never been a topic of open discussion at home or even in school. My family still observes a lot of the superstitions associated with menstruation and I know a lot of women who have to go through similar things or
sometimes worse. In my ancestral village as well as my ‘mamaghar’, things are worse, not only in terms of unawareness, shame and lack of accessibility, but also in terms of the stigma.
According to an article by Madhusudan Gopalan, only 20% of girls or women in India use pads. Almost 23 million girls drop out from school once they start menstruation because they do not have access to hygiene products. According to a charitable organization, ‘Days for Girls’, more than 25% menstruating women suffer from ‘period poverty’s and around 500 million women do not have access to feminine
hygiene products.
Women go through this on a monthly basis, so it is always in the back of my mind. And more recently, I saw some of the posts of ‘Hamari Pahchan’ on the issue which highly interested me. Hence, I decided to proceed with this Project.

I hope to be of some help to women in rural areas by:
• Explaining the associated biology in simple terms and how there is nothing to be considered dirty
or shameful about it. It is in fact natural and just because it is unique to women does not mean it
has to be stigmatized.
• Showing them how to use sanitary napkins or pads.
• Telling them about the proper disposal of used pads and the need for the same.
• Telling them how to maintain hygiene during their periods.
• Talking to them about the negative impact of associated superstitions.
Social media is slowly becoming accessible to even the less privileged and it has actually come a long way in being a potential tool especially since a lot of people in rural areas are beginning to use it. I want people to come forward and take small steps in making menstrual hygiene a matter of open, educational discussion and less of a taboo. If nothing else, they can at least spread the issue via social media and
contribute money as per their ability.

WE ARE PLANNING TO DISTRIBUTE AROUND 50K SUKHAD KITS TO UNDERPRIVILEGED WOMEN throughout the year. 

Per kit price: 

Sukhad kit for 1 woman = Rs. 1,400/- 

Sukhad kits for 5 women = Rs 7,000/- 

KIT INCLUDES 24 packets of the sanitary pad 6 packets of soap Disposable paper envelopes. I respectfully request that you all donate to this cause. Even a single penny makes a significant difference.

Or you can donate through the website as well
www.hamaripahchan.org