Project Maheena

Project Maheena is a recent addition to our broader mission to ensure that individuals from underprivileged communities get access to resources to maintain basic standards of health and personal hygiene that started in October 2020. We realised that menstrual health and hygiene management and advocacy is an indispensable part of our overall mission as in India despite its importance, this topic is considered a taboo in many communities.
Women,out of fear,shame and poverty, resort to unhygienic options such as using old, dirty rags, ash, newspaper, hay, sand or even cow dung—anything that is easily available at very low or no cost at all. Lack of awareness and conversations on how to manage their menstrual health exacerbated by lack of resources leads to bacterial infections, urinary, reproductive diseases significantly contributing to increases in rates of reproductive health morbidity.Roughly 120 million menstruating adolescents in India experience menstrual dysfunctions that inhibit their normal everyday functioning. India reports almost 60,000 cases of deaths caused due to cervical cancer, out of which two thirds of them are due to poor menstrual hygiene.
To combat this problem,Roots procure sanitary napkins from Raho Safe (Pee safe) at subsidized rates offered by them to NGOs and distribute it to women and girls in our network of underprivileged communities and urban slums free of cost. Additionally we conduct workshops where we talk about the importance of menstrual health and hygiene and address various misconceptions, myths and taboos that are associated with it. The goal of the Project is to bring a gradual acceptance of the women and girls towards taking care of their menstrual health. We believe that by consistently providing them with good quality napkins and organizing safe spaces for them to talk and share their experiences through these awareness drives we can succeed in building their confidence and slowly but surely shift from reluctance to their overall empowerment.
Besides our own communities we also partner with different NGOS such as Shanti Sahyog and amongst others where we distribute our sanitary napkins and conduct similar awareness workshops for young girls and women.