After graduating from high school, I took the opportunity to visit my grandparents in India. The prospect of reuniting with cousins and relatives post-Covid filled me with excitement. At my grandparents’ home, Shanta, a long-standing household help, assisted with chores. I’ve known Shanta, a mother of two daughters aged 10 and 15, since my childhood

One morning, I observed the older daughter playing marbles outside. I approached her, puzzled by her absence from school. Her explanation was startling. She confided that she was menstruating and using cloth as a makeshift pad, finding it uncomfortable to attend school under such circumstances. Further discussion revealed that Shanta couldn’t afford sanitary pads for her daughter and didn’t find it necessary as Shanta herself uses cloth as a pad.

It struck me that Shanta might have approached menstrual hygiene differently had she been aware of its importance for young girls. Perhaps she would have sought assistance from my grandparents for monthly supplies for her daughter.

Throughout my stay, I began providing sanitary pads while also educating Shanta ,her daughters and their friends and about the significance of menstrual hygiene. I emphasized the empowerment and dignity that accompany access to such product

This experience led to the creation of Herpads – One Girl, One Pad, One Month , A Lifetime of Dignity