Project Kannamma throws light on menstrual hygiene

The organisation in August 2018 conceived Project Kannamma to reach young and underprivileged girls from across the city and provide them with sanitary napkins, while also making them comfortable talking about menstruation.

“The lack of access to sanitary napkins led several girls to miss their classes, exams and forced some to even drop out. I was very disturbed after knowing that many young girls continue to use hay or ash during their periods. So the club decided to flag off Project Kannamma to help them access sanitary napkins. We source pads from the Irula Tribal Women’s Welfare Society, which makes these napkins using a low-cost pad-making machine designed by entrepreneur Arunachalam Muruganantham, which we give it to girls from the city for free,” the project manager Sugirda tells DT Next.

The project currently benefits at least 350 girls from across 6 schools. “For a family that makes less than Rs 100 a day, buying sanitary napkins that are worth at least Rs 70 a pack. So, we wanted to provide them pads we source at about Rs 20 a pack from Irula tribal women. Our aim is to get the girls to receive their education and not drop out of school because of their periods,” she adds.

The president of the Rotary Club of Madras North, Venkatesh Narayanasamy, says they will soon add a vocational centre in the city, which will include a low-cost sanitary napkin machine sourced from ‘pad man’ Muruganantham. “Through the vocational centre that will be set up at Dr MGR Janaki College of Arts and Science for Women, we will be able to employ about a few parents of the underprivileged girls, and produce 15,000 pads per month. These napkins will be given to school girls and can also be purchased by others,” Venkatesh says.