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This NGO founder Is On ‘Mission Menstruation’

Written By: Tasneem Akbari Kutubuddin
May 27, 2021

Highlights

Humans For Humanity, a non-governmental organization (NGO) headquartered in Dehradun, is founded by Anurag Chauhan.

In 2015, Anurag started a project called WASH (Women, Sanitation, Hygiene) that works to educate women about menstrual hygiene, providing them sanitary napkins and training them to make biodegradable sanitary napkins making them self-reliant and earn an income in the process.

In 2018, WASH started the Breaking The Bloody Taboo campaign where, as the name suggests, Anurag and his team strive to strip women of the age-old taboos. The WASH project started by him has reached over 1.5 million women in over 6 states in the last 5 years. 

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Humans For Humanity, a non-governmental organization (NGO) headquartered in Dehradun, is founded by Anurag Chauhan. In 2015, Anurag started a project called WASH (Women, Sanitation, Hygiene) that works to educate women about menstrual hygiene, providing them sanitary napkins and training them to make biodegradable sanitary napkins making them self-reliant and earn an income in the process.

In 2018, WASH started the Breaking The Bloody Taboo campaign where, as the name suggests, Anurag and his team strive to strip women of the age-old taboos. The WASH project started by him has reached over 1.5 million women in over 6 states in the last 5 years. The workshop is led by doctors to tell the women about biological reasons behind menstruation, hormonal changes, about various stages right from teenage to menopause. Counseling is given to women particularly those who are dealing with menopause. Nutritionists tell women and girls about the importance of food & nutrition intake. Affordability and sustainability are big issues, which is why they train the women to make their own sanitary napkins at home. The workshop also covers the harmful effects of poor menstrual hygiene and teaches about the disposal of napkins.

Humans For Humanity started the Red Cloth Campaign during the pandemic, to spread awareness about menstruation & bust the taboos.

During the nationwide lockdown, the efforts of Humans for Humanity have come as a great help to the women who have been taught how to make sanitary napkins at home as they don’t have to go out and buy them but they can make hygienic sanitary pads themselves at home. Anurag was honored with the International Women Empowerment Award by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India and UNICEF in 2019

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At fourteen years young when teenagers are dabbling with modern paraphernalia, Anurag Chauhan found his calling in social service. By the time he was twenty, Anurag had founded a non-government organization, Humans for Humanity in his home town Dehradun to bring awareness about menstruation, health, hygiene among women across India. At twenty-one, he launched the WASH project on Women, Sanitation, Hygiene, which educates rural women about Menstrual hygiene and provides training to them for making biodegradable sanitary napkins.

Anurag Chauhan, Founder

Had his mother discouraged him from playing with her sanitary pads saying, “Don’t touch that, it’s a ladies thing”, Anurag probably wouldn’t have been honored with the International Women Empowerment Award by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India and UNICEF in 2019. Instead, his mother chose to educate her son about what sanitary pads and periods were all about. This made all the difference for him growing up as an empathetic young man.

However, the turning point of working in this area came after reading an article written about deaths caused due to lack of menstrual hygiene.  “I read a report stating that over 1,50,000 women in India die every year, due to menstruation-related problems. I was shocked at this statistic,” says Anurag. He started with awareness sessions and started distributing low-cost eco-friendly sanitary napkins for free. His cause received support from actress Twinkle Khanna.

But what bothered him was till when one could give something for free. “Today, we train women to make biodegradable sanitary cloth pads at an affordable cost”, says Anurag. “The women-centric workshop is headed by experienced doctors to make women aware of the biological reasons behind menstruation, stages from teenage to menopause, and other hormonal changes”.

Anurag’s organisation runs awareness programs in many villages, slums, schools, and colleges of Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka.

In the community, counseling is provided to women in need who are dealing with menopause. With a separate team of nutritionists, the workshop provides information related to the importance of a healthy diet and food. Affordability and quality are the two big concerns in sanitary napkins.

“For me, quality remains a very important factor even while making cost-effective sanitary products because I would never want to give another woman a substandard product that I would hesitate to give my own mother or sisters”, says Anurag.

Therefore, the organization trains women on how to make good sanitary napkins in their homes. It also covers the adverse effects of poor menstrual hygiene and spreads awareness about the proper disposal of napkins in the waste bin.

The WASH Project

Today The WASH project started by Humans For Humanity has reached over 1.5 million women in over 6 states in India in the last 5 years, as of October 2020. However, HFH is not restricted to just the WASH project. In May 2016, they launched an initiative called ‘Stree-The Woman’, a one-day event that focuses on self-growth, self-empowerment and self-love which was attended by renowned personalities.

wash project

In the year 2018, the organization started a new campaign named ‘Breaking the Bloody Taboo.’ The main aim of this campaign is to stop the old-age taboo against women. 

In one of the campaigns in Rajasthan, the team members of Humans For Humanity organized a sessions with young girls and women of menstruating age where they even talked about the importance of holy plant Tulsi and were handed over a few leaves to women and asked them to nurture the sampling and observe the results after a month.

“I am sometimes shocked at the lack of menstrual awareness and menstrual literacy that women have. A 40 year old woman, married, was not aware that menstruation was restricted to bodies with the female reproductive system. She assumed it is something all humans go through, and thought probably her husband bled too but hid it from her as she did from him”, shares Anurag. “These are the kinds of myths we aim to dismiss”.

In 2020, Humans For Humanity launched ‘Red Cloth Campaign’ during the COVID-19 pandemic, to spread awareness about menstruation and bust the taboos. Actor Lisa Ray and singer Shibani Dandekar, Kirti Kulhari, Kubra Sait, Divya Seth supported the campaign along with thousands of social media users.

A Saviour Amidst The Pandemic

During the difficult times of nationwide lockdown in India, Humans for Humanity came forward to help women and train them to make hygienic sanitary napkins at home safely. Thanks to this project, during the scarcity of sanitary napkins during the lockdown, the seeds of WASH project he had sowed in the various states helped him procure 50,000 plus pads for distribution in Delhi.  The initiative has made hundreds of women financially independent and empowered.

Their future plans include setting up machines that make eco-friendly bio-degradable sanitary pads from bamboo plants. This will be set up in villages and provide employment to many women making them self-reliant and financially independent.

“We talk about eco-friendly and sustainable products but in villages with a scarcity of water, water is an important resource and hence cloth pads fail the cause. Hence we are working on products that will be eco-friendly in the true sense”, adds Anurag.

Anurag’s project also extended to art classes in some schools where some classes were taught to make sanitary cloth napkins. This brought up a discussion among the class of boys and girls on what the whole thing was about therefore bringing out the subject up and breaking the gender barrier.

This Padman from Delhi is an example of how the youth of India are breaking the stereotype associated with menstrual hygiene by touching the lives of those who need awareness and education with a will to bring a positive change. Being bullied for his gender while working for a cause that largely relates to women, Anurag Chauhan says it does bring him down and affect him many times. But when he thinks of the larger good that is being done it’s nothing in comparison to that joy.

changemen for menstruationmenstrual healthmenstrual hygeine daypadmanperiod ally

Tasneem Akbari Kutubuddin

Tasneem Akbari Kutubuddin has done her masters in Journalism & Communication and has worked as a senior journalist, editor and columnist for leading publications like The Logical Indian, Deccan Chronicle, Worldwide Media Corporation, The Bridge and Provoke.
With Infano, she hopes to create more awareness about women’s health issues. Suffering with Fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition, she has also been advocating for its awareness through media.

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Infano Care

Self-Care Before Holi Shenanigans

Written By: Shweta Singh
March 17, 2022 | 02:40 PM |
163

Highlights

Complete self-care guide for Holi

Get a quick ice-cube massage

Oils to prevent damage against colors

Super hack to get rid of colors

Tips for hair protection

 

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Self- Care before holi needs extra care from skin to hair everything demands special attention. These Simple easy-breezy self-care hacks will make this super fun with zero damage to your skin and hair.

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Festival of Holi is just around the corner, and you might be busy picking your way through multitasking like deciding on the menu, making the guest list, home decor, and essentially looking out for organic Holi colors. Amidst all this clamor are you forgetting to do pre-holi self-care?

Playing with colors on Holi is all fun until you have to spend long hours in the shower getting rid of those colors that refuse to leave your skin and cause a lot of irritation and damage what if we tell you, This time Holi is gonna be fun with no fear of damage to your skin.

Well below is the list of easy-breezy pre-Holi self-care hacks –

Massage with ice cubes 

Before heading out to play colors gently massage your face with ice cubes. Ice cubes help exfoliate the skin and minimize the pores. This protects the skin from any damage and irritation due to colors. 

Almond oil/ Coconut oil 

Almond oil is a rich source of Vitamin E and is beneficial for your skin. After massaging with the ice cubes apply a few drops of almond oil and gently massage in a circular motion this will lock moisture in the skin and prevent any dryness or itching due to colors. However, this usage is not advised for oily skin as might lead to excess production of sebum, causing acne. 

 On the other hand, one can also prefer coconut oil on the face and other exposed areas. This will form a protective shield against toxic colors. 

Apply Sunscreen 

Sunscreen is a must ! Constant exposure to the sun while playing Holi may lead to tanning, rashes, and redness on the skin. To avoid such damage apply sunscreen with SPF 50 before heading out. 

Petroleum Jelly 

This one is a super hack. Often the colors stick beside ears, neck, and around lips to avoid this apply petroleum jelly on these areas. Petroleum jelly blocks the colors to stick around these areas. 

Now that you are sorted with your skincare for Holi. Let’s get some hacks to protect your hair too 

Hair Oiling 

To protect your hair from damage give a good oil massage to your hair. This will prevent colors from sticking to the scalp. It will also nourish your hair and prevent dryness. 

Headband/ Scarf 

Get yourself a wide headband or chic bandana to cover your head before heading out to play Holi. Headband/scarf gives maximum protection against the colors. This also prevents any further damage.

You may also want to check out, steps to self care when working from home: Click Here

haircareHoliself-careskincare

Shweta Singh

A Writer, who sometimes lends voice to audio book and loves to be on camera. An avid reader with a penchant for storytelling on camera.

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