While several people believe that when it comes to menstrual hygiene, women in urban India are much better off than their village counterparts, it doesn't seem to be entirely true
Stagnant menstrual blood on sanitary pads has a lot of accumulated bacteria that rapidly multiplies and each piece of sanitary pad contains around 2 gram of non-biodegradable plastic. So the much-maligned piece of cloth has emerged as a viable option for women to use during their periods. Photo: Goonj
Goonj, a non-profit, provides women with enough cloth, some menstrual hygiene awareness and space to freely speak about their menstrual challenges. They also teach women to make the cloth pads. Photo: Goonj
The process to make cloth pads starts with separating cotton and semi cotton cloth. Then, women remove buttons, zips, elastics, hooks, and cufflinks from these clothes. The sorted cotton clothes are soaked overnight, washed and dried in sunlight. After being cut in the size of 12”x16
In Odish’s Sarumaha village, women make a private bathing and cloth pad changing space for themselves. The cloth pad is a driving tool for women in far reached areas to take initiative towards their personal health and hygiene like nutrition garden, private space for bathing and changing pad. Photo: Goonj
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