19-yr-old spends gap year educating girls of govt schools on importance of menstrual hygiene; has even got pad destroyers installed in many
While the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has installed sanitary napkin vending machines at several civic schools, Mumbai girl, Amani Dabriwala, 19, has taken it upon herself to educate girls from these schools on menstrual hygiene. Dabriwala, from south Mumbai, who has just passed Std XII, has been visiting government and semi-government schools, giving presentations about the importance of sanitary napkins and their safe disposal. Dabriwala came up with the idea this year post her board exams and is currently on a gap year before heading abroad for higher studies. She decided to use the year doing something to help others. Dabriwala started by distributing sanitary napkins and giving talks through presentations to girls from Std V to Std X at various government schools.
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Amani Dabriwala at her residence in Walkeshwar. Pic/Sneha Kharabe
She said, "Girls need to know that menstrual hygiene is very important for a healthy life. Many do not even speak about it openly, which they need to." During her interactions with students, a lot of young girls shared their questions and experiences. It was after several such interactions that she suggested that schools install commercial sanitary napkin destroyers on the premises and even gave demonstrations on how to operate them. Dabriwala said, "It is important that every school has such destroyers, but most schools lack these. After presentations and visits to schools, the authorities have agreed to install such destroyers."
She has already provided these machines to two schools by raising the sum required to buy them through crowdfunding. Explaining the concept, Dabriwala said the main problem was improper disposal of sanitary waste, which leads to pollution and sewage problems. Dabriwala said, "These sanitary napkin destroyers convert them into eco-friendly smoke in a field or open area near the schools and destroys about 100 napkins a day."
2 No. of pad destroyer machines Dabriwala has got installed in schools
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