If you have your period then why hide it?

    If you have your period then why hide it?

    Narrated to Sonam by Bhavna of Baithankhurd village, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh

    Why hide period

    About 4 months ago, Sonam Didi of an organization came to our village. She invited all the girls and women for a program. And told that this program is special only for women and girls. And in this program we will tell about a special day. I am very happy that there is such a day in our life which is so special. I don’t even know. I asked my mother that my father celebrated or said that there is no special day in the life of women. I was heartbroken. I wanted to know about that day. Because people always looked at us with inferiority complex, I started waiting for tomorrow when they will come, only then I will be able to know.

    I still remember that day: 28 May 2024, the day I came to know about the women in the FORCE organization. When many people from the FORCE organization came to the program in the village, in which there was one woman and the rest were men, we were all called and told that today is world menstruation day . All of us girls were blushing with shame when Madam made us draw the picture of a sanitary napkin through rangoli. Seeing this, the women of our village tried to object but Madam explained to them that periods are not a wrong thing. Because periods are the identity of being a woman, if there are no periods then we cannot become mothers and this world cannot be created. And we were told that we must question myths like we can’t go to the temple during periods, touch pickles, touch trees. We have this conservative thinking today this should be changed so that today’s girls do not consider periods as a disease or something dirty. Whenever periods come, you should eat everything at that time like jaggery, gram, Why hide periodcurd, milk, green vegetables, nutritious food etc. You should keep consulting the doctor from time to time. After listening to all this I was thinking that our mother always forbids us from doing and eating all these things, after that madam told me about periods We can talk openly with everyone at home, if we have periods then how can we hide it After that the sir who had come in the program started talking about periods and some people started leaving from there and some started laughing. He told me that it is not so easy to make them understand, sir told me that we want to change this thinking of yours. Period is a respectable action which all males should view with respect. All the women were stopped with great difficulty. Then a rally was taken out in the whole village so that this message could reach every house. Slogans were raised, I was very happy because now I will not have to hide my periods.

    Why hide periodThe program ended and everyone went to their homes. When I went to my home, I said to my mother in anger, you used to say not to do this, not to do this, but during the period we should do everything, everyone should eat something and talk about it openly in front of everyone. I was saying this when my father came, there was another uncle with him, my mother signalled me to keep quiet, but I opposed my mother and said what was wrong in this, mother got angry and asked me to go inside, I went inside crying. Mummy and Papa both came to me at night. Mummy might have told Papa about the program. Papa told me that I know periods are not wrong but do not say this in front of everyone. Whatever the matter is, you can tell me and Papa told me that I was also listening to that program. I am happy that you also became aware about periods. I am with you. This was the biggest happiness of my life which I can never forget.

    I took an oath that day that I will make girls like me aware about periods.

    Thanks to FORCE organization which changed the thinking of my family and gave me a good experience regarding periods.

    Water For Peace

    Of all the crises the world faces today, water scarcity is perhaps the most worrying. Water is essential to fulfil all our  needs. Without water we cannot grow food, maintain hygiene, make homes, buildings, machines, computers…in short, no human activity can be done without water. Perhaps that is why human civilization developed along river banks and why scientists are feverishly trying to find water on other moons and planets

    This overwhelming dependence on water in the face of rising human need is the root cause of water conflict.

    Take a look at this map. It shows the global water status in 2025. The  parts in yellow and red colours are those which will face physical or economic water scarcity while those in blue are those that will be water secure. A closer look will show that most developing and underdeveloped nations – the poorest, most populous and conflicted parts of the world – are red or yellow. If in these areas water scarcity becomes worse then conflicts will surely increase. Water. Instead of being the life giver, will become the cause of much misery!

    Yemen showcases an example of water scarcity leading to conflict. Because of severe mismanagement, Yemen’s water availability is declining dramatically. The impact of water scarcity on the people is however, unequally distributed. Corruption and nepotism is at the core of this imbalance. This has increasingly frustrated the disadvantaged. Water scarcity has played a big role in fuelling the political and security crisis in Yemen.I

    n India the long-standing conflict over water from the Cauvery River between the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu has recently resurfaced in the context of drier climate conditions. The implications are not only legal battles, but also violent protests following decisions to alter water distribution between the two states.

    Water is not just life. It is also Peace. On World Peace Day, let us pledge to create Water Security for World Peace

    Blog by: Adarsha , Documentation Co-ordinator, FORCE and Jyoti Sharma, President, FORCE

    Seminar on Social Entrepreneurship in Water Sector

    Sustainability of interventions is a challenge faced by welfare practitioners particularly where the interventions involve a sustainability cost. Increasingly, Social Entrepreneurship is being seen as a viable method to ensure sustainability especially in infrastructure heavy welfare areas such as water, sanitation and health.

    In this context, Forum for Organised Resource Conservation & Enhancement (FORCE), with funding support from HSBC Bank and implementation support from PJRM FORCE Trust is organising a half day workshop on “Social Entrepreneurship in Water Sector” on Nov 30, 2015.

    In this workshop, we will share our learnings from experiences in Community Water Management in slums in Delhi especially in:

    1)      Community Safe Drinking Water Vending  (Sarvajal)

    2)      Informal Water Vendors /Community Managed Water Distribution systems

    This workshop would be of particular interest to NGOs and other social organisations who are exploring ways to ensure that their interventions are sustainable.

    We invite you to join us for this interactive workshop and share your experiences on the above.

    Date: November 30 2015, 1.30 pm onwards

    Venue: Institute of Social Sciences, 8, Nelson Mandela Marg, Vasant Kunj (Near Gurudwara and Aadyant School)

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    Program Schedule

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    Venue: Institute of Social Sciences

    World Toilet Day Celebration

    These women have worked tirelessly to make their respective communities Open Defecation (OD) Free. They have understood the much touted saying that Cleanliness is next to Godliness.

    As part of their felicitation by FORCE under the “Swatch Delhi, Swasth Delhi” (Clean Delhi, Healthy Delhi) project funded by WaterAid, the women sang bhajans in the house of God and gave a new meaning to cleanliness and Godliness.

    Jyoti Sharma, President FORCE congratulated the women on their achievement and said, “God lives where cleanliness exists. We women must take this message all over the world.”

    This is the last song sung by the women during the program. The song has been written and composed by the women themselves.

    The song congratulates ( offers “badhai”) to the women who have worked to make their respective communities OD free. And through the song, women are also making a promise that they will construct toilets in their homes and encourage all to do the same.

    The Sanitation and Water Challenge in Delhi

    Sanitation & water challengeFORCE* is organizing an ‘Expert Dialogue’ titled ‘The Sanitation and Water Challenge in Delhi – With Special reference to Regularization and Resettlement of the Poor’. The Expert Speakers will share their views on the current and expected challenges in providing adequate, sustainable sanitation and Water services to the lesser privileged in Delhi.

    FORCE will also share the findings of a recent sample study that was done on Community Toilet complex usage, management, infrastructure and maintenance. The study also analyses the impact of   a ‘Community Toilet Complex Monitoring model’ wherein community members monitor and report on the services provided by the CTC they use.

    The objective is to identify challenges in Water and Sanitation and discuss the options for overcoming them. Also the role that each stakeholder needs to play for sustainability

    We would like to invite you for this Expert Dialogue. It will be held on July 31, 2013 from 2.30pm to 5.30 pm. at India International Centre (Multipurpose Hall ), Lodhi Road, New Delhi. Your contribution will be valuable for us all.

    We look forward to having you join us for the Expert Dialogue. For more information on the program, please feel free to write to me at jyoti@forcetrust.org or call me at 9899812888.

    In collaboration with Times of India and with the support of WaterAid India and CASP-Plan

    —————————————————————————————————————————————–

    Date: July 31, 2013         Venue: India International Centre, Multipurpose Hall, Lodhi Estate

    PROGRAM SCHEDULE

    THE SANITATION AND WATER CHALLENGE IN DELHI

    (With special reference to regularization and resettlement of settlements for the poor)

    2.30pm – 3pm          – Registration

    3.00pm – 3.30 pm    – Welcome Address and Presentation of CTC Usage survey –   FORCE

    3.30 pm – 4.45pm     – Expert views

    –  Sh Bal Mukund, Editor, Navbharat Times (will also conduct the dialogue)

    – Key Civil Society Concerns in Water and Sanitation planning –  WaterAid India,  GIZ and CASP-Plan

    – Sh PK Tripathi – Former Chief Secretary and current Chairman of Public Grievances Committee

    Sh S Khan – Chairman, Minorities Commission

    Sh Amar Nath – CEO, Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board

    Smt Debashree Mukherjee – CEO, Delhi Jal Board

    4.45 pm – 5.15 pm   – Interactive session with audience

    5.15 pm – 5.30pm    – Vote of thanks and Mementos to Honble Guests

    5.30pm onwards  High tea

    Jal Yachana – All Religion Prayer Meeting

    Water PrayerIn a unique ceremony, FORCE, has called for citizens, political leaders, religious institutions to cut across all divides and jointly pray to God for alleviating the distress of those suffering because of drought or flood. On 7th of August between 9.30 to 10.30 am, ‘Jal Yachana – Sarva Dharma Prarthana Sabha’ has been organized. An All – Religion Prayer Session where leaders, citizens and children from all over Delhi will gather together to pray to the Almighty to bless the parched Earth with his blessing of Rain.

    All are invited to attend the session and work towards water conservation.

    Water is not a commodity that we can abuse. It is a life giving blessing that we must re-learn to respect. It knows no colour, caste or religion. Through the JAL YACHANA, not only are we all jointly asking God for his blessing of Water but also we are reminding ourselves to forget all differences and join hands to overcome this crisis.

    Water Prayer

     Water Prayer

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