Hello Donors,

IDAM SARVAM foundation has come up with a new initiative for International Women’s Day which is on the 8th of March 2021, the volunteers at Idam Sarvam Foundation are strongly prompted towards bringing sustainable change and creating awareness related to menstrual hygiene.

Menstrual Hygiene is not just about spreading awareness about sanitation to marginalized and poor women, it is actually about providing them the means which will help them in maintaining menstrual hygiene.


IDAM SARVAM FOUNDATION is very focused on bringing sustainable change in the situation, as a large chunk of the population in India still treats this natural menstruation cycle to be very “sacred”, “impure”, and “dirty” among other things, especially in rural areas.

To bust the myths our volunteers have planned to go to poor villages and rural areas around Gandhinagar, Gujarat, and spread awareness about the menstruation cycle, And as I mentioned earlier spreading awareness isn’t enough, we also are planning to distribute reusable eco-friendly sanitary pads, to poor girls and women of marginalized communities.

IF we take a look at facts and surveys we will know,

• National Family Health Survey 2015-2016 estimates about 336 million girls and women in India are of reproductive age and menstruate for 2-7 days, every month out of which only 121 million (36%) are using sanitary napkins, and yet the topic of menstruation is expected to be a hush affair and kept under wraps of the ‘Black Plastic Bags’, Which is given to us most of time we buy sanitary pads.

How Informed Are Young Girls Who Are Yet To Menstruate?

• A 2016 study titled – ‘Menstrual hygiene management among adolescent girls in India’ involving nearly 100,000 girls in India found that almost 50,000 did not know about menstruation until the first time they got their period. The study further explains how many girls even think that they are dying or have caught a horrible disease, the first time they menstruate, due to the pain and blood.

Major impact on Education

• A 2014 report informed that almost 23 million girls in India drop out of school annually, because of a lack of menstrual hygiene management facilities, including the availability of sanitary napkins and awareness about menstruation. The report further suggests that the girls, who don’t drop out, usually miss up to 5 days of school every month.

A large number of women in Rural India still use cloth for menstrual protection

• This indicates that women in rural parts of India still practice unhealthy means of protection when going through the menstrual cycle Over 88 percent of women go for using cloth, ashes, or even husk during menstrual periods, which is a very unhealthy practice for them as well as their family.

We often hear that unhygienic period health and disposal practices can have major consequences on the health of women, but what exactly is at risk here? Every person – male or female should be aware of the diseases that could be caused if a woman does not have access to menstrual hygiene products. The issue can increase a woman’s chances of contracting cervical cancer, Reproductive Tract Infections, Hepatitis B infection, various types of yeast infections, and Urinary Tract infections, to name a few.

If We think about school-going teenage girls, women in quarantine amidst global pandemic, women in relief camps, women migrant workers, who are also in need of vital information related to menstrual hygiene and access to sanitation facilities. In many places, shared toilets made it challenging for menstruating girls and women to manage menstrual hygiene.

When a girl faces challenges in managing her period in a healthy manner, it can cause a number of problems to her physical as well as mental health. Not only will she be at risk of infection, but her education, self-esteem, and confidence also suffer in a major way.

Well, this problem has a solution, which is spreading awareness around menstruation through education along with the distribution of sanitary napkins is the key. There is a need to educate women on how using sanitary napkins can help prevent many infections and side effects besides maintaining personal hygiene and shunning away from the blind beliefs and taboos around it.

AN APPEAL BY IDAM SARVAM FOUNDATION : 

A humble request to all Donors to support this campaign by contributing some amount for the cause, We invite you all to be a part of this and spread this campaign by sharing it amongst your friends, family, colleagues, and acquaintances to help us reach a wider audience.