Rural women use earthen pots to make incinerators
LUCKNOW: Earthen pots of up to 20 litres capacity are being modified and used as improvised incinerators for disposing of sanitary napkins / cloth pads in over 40 villages.
“Through these home-made incinerators, sanitary napkins are being disposed of in a safe manner. Otherwise, they were thrown in the open, becoming a major source of infection,” said Nilima Gupta, field worker with the NGO Vatsalya that has trained women to create incinerators from earthen pots.
The pots are purchased from the market or made using pond mud. Small holes are created near the mouth, while the opening is kept covered. The holes ensure that the napkins dry out, and once that is done, some wood is put inside and the pad is burnt.
At an event on menstrual hygiene here on Monday -- the last day of the menstrual hygiene week -- Dr Nilam Singh, head, Vatsalya said, “You can’t find incinerators everywhere, and if used napkins are thrown in the open, blood can cause infection to spread via the housefly. This is why we developed a home-made incinerator model for proper disposal of napkins. The women create it themselves for their use.”
Other experts also spoke on menstrual hygiene. The programme included some rural
girls sharing their experiences and learnings. Members of NGO Red Brigade staged a play to spread hygiene awareness.
CYCLE IRREGULARITIES TROUBLING GIRLS
According to a survey carried out by city-based ophthalmologist Dr JK Bansal, menstrual irregularities sometimes trouble girls so much that they confuse the problem for some other illness. “I had patients who said they had vision problems. Some had even visited a neurologist and got CT scan and MRI done before coming to me,” said Dr Bansal adding, “However, they were facing menstrual irregularities but had not shared the issue with anyone due to feelings of shame.”
“They were unable to concentrate on studies or other routine work and complained about headache and vision problems. The majority were staying in hostels, so, they had no one from their families to consult,” he said. The doctor said that finally when the root cause was addressed by a gynaecologist, their vision problems also got resolved. Dr Tripti Bansal had provided them gynaecological counselling.