Prasagraj: Four years ago, when close relatives died because of the lack of proper hygiene of menstruation and inadequate sanitation, Vandana Singh was not wasted time in launching a battle to spread awareness among rural communities to save lives.
He began distributing sanitation pads among women in rural areas and giving 500 to 1,000 bearings once a week now.
Vandana, British lecturer at Chandra Shekhar Azad Inter College, Puravnara, (Sorona), devoted all his free time for his mission.
He took sanitation pads wherever he went and distributed it among women.
Until now, he has distributed more than 1.25 lakh sanitary sanitary napkins and aims to touch the 5 mark.
Now famous as the ‘Women Pad’ city, Vandana, spends around 10% of the salary every month buying sanitation pads.
“Sanitation and cleanliness are very important for women during menstruation and can be a matter of life and death.
The lack of proper sanitation during the menstrual cycle can develop severe illness,” Vandana said.
“When I started distributing sanitation pads among rural women, ordinary people solved jokes on me.
I continue to tell rural women about menstruation cleanliness and give them free sanitation pads,” he added.
“Women and women in rural areas are still not aware of not knowing about menstrual hygiene and ending with suffering.
We need to spread consciousness,” Vandana said.
“When I began to advise a woman, some people even passed obscene comments and said ‘EK Aurat Hokar Aisi Batein Karti Hai’,” Remember Vandana.
“But I didn’t lose the courage and continued my work and gradually succeeded in my efforts,” he added.
He also bought five sewing machines for girls and women to provide training to make sanitation pads and become independent.