Girls breaking taboo around health, hygiene
LUCKNOW: Koushika is only 11-years-old. But when it comes to acting responsibly and motivating people in her village, she is a champion. Koushika has been motivating the girls of her village to go to school. She also tells them about personal hygiene and nutrition and ensures that the girls attend the Kishori Baithak (meetings held for adolescent girls in her village).
Another girl Srishti, 18, is a menstrual hygiene champion. After attending numerous trainings on the subject, she now trains the girls of her village about personal hygiene and has also succeeded in breaking the taboos around periods within her family and in her village. Today, young girls contact her for all their problems and Srishti guides them about the right hygiene practices.
Koushika and Srishti are SeVa Dal leaders! Natives of Sewapuri block of Varanasi, there are more than 260 similar leaders who are changing mindsets and motivating people of their villages. “Over 260 girls of Sewapuri block of Varanasi were selected by the district administration in
2020 to be SeVa Dal leaders. These girls were selected from among the 87 gram panchayats in the block. Three girls from every village are selected and trained for health, nutrition, education and hygiene. These girls are well-versed in all the government schemes and the right health, nutrition and hygiene practices,” said district magistrate of Varanasi Kaushal Raj Sharma.
“A number of problems came up during the Covid times. Supply of sanitary pads remained affected and with all members of the family staying at home, girls really struggled to manage their periods and other related health issues. Education remained affected and health of adolescent girls’ too remained a concern. But these SeVa Dal leaders have
really managed to ensure that adolescent girls and children do not face any such problems,” said Madhushree Pandey, director of Sarthak Foundation, a non-profit organisation working on health issues in and around Varanasi.
The leaders support nutrition in a big way. They make sure that all adolescent girls get their iron supplements and also contribute to the poshan vatika.
“Young girls really look up to us, even those who are prepared well in advance so that they do not panic when they get their periods. Similarly, when girls have some other health issue and hesitate to share it at home, we take them to Kishori Baithak where they get answers to all their queries,” said Arti, a SeVa Dal leader.