ADOLESCENCE REPRESENTS AN INNER EMOTIONAL UPHEAVAL, A STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE ETERNAL HUMAN WISH TO CLING TO THE PAST AND THE EQUALLY POWERFUL WISH TO GET ON WITH THE FUTURE.
Proceeding: - The first step toward change is awareness. And this awareness session started with a lot of shyness and an introduction of all those little beautiful girls who came there with expectations and confusion.
After that volunteers of GS3 came on their front foot and made all the girls comfortable by interacting with them.
Making the environment comfortable by sharing real-life stories: - As expected, the girls were shy and uncomfortable in the beginning. However, the GS3 volunteers explained everything regarding the body changes during adolescence and normalized the reactions when a girl gets her first period by sharing their personal experiences.
After this ice-breaking session, a far more comfortable environment was achieved.
Changes in the body: - Adolescence is the prime phase of puberty, i.e., the phase of transition between childhood and adulthood. It involves physical and psychological growth besides the development of the sexual organs with the beginning of menstruation. Volunteers of the society introduced all this crucial information to the beneficiaries through various activities such as videos, role plays, etc.
Informative Video: - There were videos played to enhance their knowledge about adolescence and clear their doubts. Those teenage girls seemed curious to understand and gain more knowledge as they watched the video patiently and asked their doubts. The videos were all about personal hygiene, the correct and hygienic manner to use pads and dispose of them, and wholesome of all kinds of changes occurring in the human body during this particular phase.
Demonstration and Distribution of Reusable Sanitary napkins: - There was a demonstration of the reusable sanitary kits to the adolescent girls which includes hygienic ways to use, clean, and reuse. Also, the benefits of reusable pads in the form of reusable kits that is far more durable and hygienic were discussed.
It was an attempt to break the taboo and spread more awareness about menstrual hygiene and adolescence.
The main purpose of the session was:-
To spread awareness among adolescent girls about menstrual health and care.
Use sanitary pads or reusable sanitary pads at the time of periods.
A detailed discussion on the proper use of sanitary pads and their disposal.
Videos and open discussions were the methodologies of the session.
Brief of the session:-
On 20th March 2022, GS3 in collaboration with GORED, Dehradun conducted an awareness workshop on Adolescent, Reproductive and Sexual Health. The event took place at a government school in Misraspatti (which included beneficiaries from about 4 villages)that provided a safe and supportive environment for open interaction with the girls of age group 13-18, to enhance their knowledge about sexual health and also provided them with sanitary kits sponsored by GORED NGO.
15 volunteers from GS3 along with the social internship officer conducted the session with much enthusiasm and zeal to spread knowledge.
All the volunteers tried their best to provide detailed information on the menstrual cycle, adolescence, and sanitation. The session was initialized with the introduction and extended with some personal experiences of the volunteers. They presented with a video initially and then an open discussion to clear their doubts. As the session ended, the girls had been informed about the usage of the sanitary kit that is reusable, washable, and safe to use. Also, the kits were distributed among the females of the school and asked to try them out and get back to the volunteers with their feedback.
The volunteers were glad to see beautiful smiles of satisfaction after the session.
The girls also came up with their experiences, earlier they felt hesitant to speak about this topic and didn't have much knowledge, but now they feel more comfortable as the hype and taboo have been normalized.
This amazing session helped them a lot.