Empowering and Protecting Slum Girls

TULIKA, THE YOUNG CHANGE-MAKER

Tulika, 14, lives in the Arjun Camp slums in Delhi with her parents. Her father is daily wage labor, and her mother is a household worker. As one of the lead girls of Sukarya’s Adolescent Girls Empowerment and Leadership Program (AGELP), she wants to change many cultural misconceptions around periods, which, according to her, dictates the way women and girls are treated. When girls are [on their] periods, they face different problems,” she says. “Girls aren’t allowed in the kitchen. They are not allowed to touch any fruit or plants.”

In the slums, young women have extraordinarily little knowledge about periods. She, herself, didn't know anything about the use of sanitary towels. Many believe women should not cook or go into the town or city center while menstruating. Not being allowed to step into a kitchen means many do not eat properly. Instead, they sleep alone, often outside, until they finished bleeding. There are inadequate bathroom facilities, and many resorts to unhygienic methods to manage their monthly cycle. 

Tulika has already started doing counseling with her friends about the importance of Menstrual Hygiene. She is thankful to Sukarya for empowering her to challenge these barriers by distributing sanitary wear and primary sexual education. She said women often suffer during their periods, but she wants to help them feel free. She also aspires to help Sukarya’s health education program that aims to challenge negative attitudes around menstruProgress Report: February 2021 to Mid May 2021

Between February to May 2021, a total of 800 adolescent girls has been inducted into the program, out of which 400 have been completed the 3 months module-based training on 6 specified topics [ 1. Adolescent Health, 2. Menstrual Hygiene 3. Reproductive Health,4. Family Life Education 5.Gender and gender-based discrimination issues 6. Social Threats, issues, challenges, and coping mechanism. ].

And rest 400 girls are continuing their training sessions this quarter.  

Currently, 32 “ Lead Girls” are being trained and developed into the program. In addition, an exclusive 4 pieces of training were organized on Gender, roles and responsibilities, leadership skills, and personality development aspects.

Due to the 2^nd wave of deadly covid 19 pandemic from the last week of April 2021, the project has switched over its training sessions into virtual sessions. Despite numerous challenges in execution and huge health and livelihood crises across the project locations, the project team has effectively conducted all the scheduled activities. The community members and parents of girls are extending their full support and help in the execution of activities. They are also showing their gratitude for this meaningful, life-changing intervention for adolescent girls.     

No. of slum locations intervened  - 16        

No. of batches made - 16

No. of girls registered - 800

No. of Orientation Sessions conducted with parents - 16

No. of Training conducted in this quarter - 48

No. of Lead Girls Trained & Developed - 32

No. of training conducted for Lead Girl - 32

Links:

• facebook page of Sukarya
• LinkedIn page of Sukarya
• Tweeter handle of Sukarya

Farhana, 18, lives in Gopal Ji Colony in Samalka, Delhi, with her parents, daily wage laborers, and 4 of her siblings in a tiny, rented house. She was the first in the family to go to school and had passed her higher secondary examination last year. As an adolescent girl, it was physically and emotionally challenging for her to cope up with the physical transition within the vicious circle of poverty, economic vulnerability, social stigma, and the ongoing impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. She was anemic, ill-tempered, and a kind of rebel child. When Sukarya’s Adolescent Girls Empowerment & leadership Program (AGELP) team met with her during a field survey, she asked many questions about the program and could relate to her being a part of it. She understood the program's importance and need. Her parents were initially reluctant but later gave their consent after seeing Farhana's determination and interest. She joined the AGELP training sessions with full energy and proved herself to be a quick learner. Sukarya's team also took care of her and provided the much-needed comfort and freedom to participate in all training sessions. She was very punctual and motivated others to be effective. By the middle of the program, after attending just a  few sessions on Adolescent Health, Menstrual Hygiene & Reproductive Health, she had already become vocal and asked many probing questions on the topics with much clarity and led many group discussions. She wanted to become a Lead Girl of the program. She proved that when a girl is determined and focused, all hinders are negotiable. Way to go, Farhana!!

Adolescent Girls Empowerment & Leadership Program
October - December 2020

The project is currently in operation in 8 slum areas of Delhi, wherein 8 batches are created comprising 50 girls for each batch; a total of 400 adolescent girls are registered during this quarter. This Program has been restrategized post-covid-19 and renamed as “Adolescent Girls Empowerment & Leadership Program.” The team has done all the needful like; Identification of the locations, Situation analysis, Community Profiling, Area Assessment, and baseline survey before conducting the Orientation Session with these girls and their parents to understand the Program & its objectives. The details of the activities are given below.

No. of registered girls -  400 

No. of Orientation Sessions: A total of 8 Orientation Sessions have been done in all 8 slum area locations in Delhi.

No. of Training: Total 19 sessions of training session have been conducted

Topics of the Training: Adolescent Health, Menstrual Hygiene & Reproductive Health

No. of participants(training wise) sessions.

1. On Adolescent Health- Total of 8 sessions of training has been conducted with 372 girls.
2. On Menstrual Hygiene- Total of 7 sessions of training has been conducted with 328 girls.
3. On Reproductive Health- Total of 4 sessions of training has been conducted with 192 girls.