This week, Leela has a super read for those who appreciate the community driven. Sinu Joseph is our community super person who blends creativity, heart, culture, and change and makes it her full-time job. This interview is worth the 7 minutes to read. So do it.
1. Your work with Mythri is fascinating. Can you tell our readers about this very unique animated video?
Mythri is an animated film in Kannada about Menstrual Hygiene. Before making Mythri, my colleague Vyjayanthi and I had done sessions on Menstruation for about 5000 adolescent girls across government schools in Karnataka. Each of these sessions were done orally and had great results. But, it was exhausting as each session would take at least 2 hours and we realized our limitations as individuals if we had to reach out to a larger number of girls. That's why we created Mythri which covers all the information in about 23 minutes, so that we facilitators could focus on enabling the girls to overcome their inhibitions and talk about menstruation and problems around it. Mythri was made with the intention of reaching all government schools across Karnataka targeting around 22 lac adolescent girls. Today, with the acceptance of Mythri by the NRHM and the Department of Public Instruction, it is becoming possible. However, the acceptance of Mythri beyond Karnataka was something I did not think would happen at the pace in which it did. It has already been dubbed into Odiya by the NGO Aaina in Orissa. We are currently working on dubbing it into Hindi and English in a month's time.
2. You aren't an intrusive change-maker, your work is moulded to ensure that cultures, sentiments, and individual beliefs are respected and nurtured even when you impart education and the tools to change something for the better. What are the challenges you've faced while doing this?
Thanks for making that observation! Yes, absolutely, I do not think that anyone should impose their ideologies or beliefs on others, especially when you know so little about others' lives. As an educator on a topic as sensitive as menstruation, I keep reminding myself that I need to listen to and respect others' reasons, especially when it comes to taboos and restrictions. It didn't happen automatically and was something I developed as I went along. The challenge, which is constant, is to not be influenced by everything that is already written and said about this topic, and to see things afresh and with an open mind each time. A lot of unverified data and statistics is quoted about menstruation and there is a general negative impression of the poor Indian woman who has no access to Sanitary Pads, which time and again, I found to be untrue in all the 100+ schools & villages where I have done sessions so far. It is so very important to constantly do a reality check and get a first-hand understanding of what the truth is. The other challenge is to help educators and promoters of menstrual hygiene see the issue for what it is and not hide behind Sanitary Napkin distributions. And perhaps the biggest challenge is to change the perception, world-over, of looking at Menstruation as a “problem” to be solved, instead of accepting it as a natural process and being grateful for having this inbuilt, wonderful indicator of a woman's health & well being.
3. You have have been to rural Karnataka and most recently Jharkhand and seen the government education system in action in these areas. What are things we might be pleasantly surprised about? What IS something urbanites like us should be aware about in terms of rural education, particularly for girls?
People usually ask me if I have trouble getting permission to do these talks in government schools. The trouble, if any, has been in a few private schools where someone asked me to do the talk, but couldn't manage to convince the school authorities! The government schools on the other hand, be it in Karnataka or in Jharkhand, welcome us and are extremely glad that we come forward to do these sessions. While travelling to places like Jharkhand, we make last minute plans and in spite of not giving any prior notice, the government schools completely cooperate in making the session happen. If there is any network that thinks holistically for the development of a child, it is the government. In Karnataka, they have the “Kelu Kishori” program covering menstruation, HIV, sexuality and changes in adolescent boys and girls. In Jharkhand, we saw a similar program with a book called “Anita Badi Ho Chali.” While most of us think that the government is hesitant about introducing sex education, it is already a part of their program and covered under the project of the NRHM called the Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health (ARSH). The hesitation, if any, for the teachers is on how to convey these topics, and it is not about the topic itself. Across schools, teachers have often requested us to go beyond menstruation and talk about sexuality, sexual abuse and rape. They may not talk about it themselves, but definitely agree that the topic is very important and needs to be spoken about.
Most urban women who set out to help / educate rural girls or women have a tendency to begin by pitying their conditions. Somehow, we think that using cloth to absorb menstrual flow is a sad business and that it is done because the poor rural girl cannot afford Sanitary Napkins. The truth is that it has little to do with affordability or even accessibility. Even in the remotest and tribal villages and schools in Dandeli (Karnataka) and Khunti (Jharkhand), majority of the school-going girls are using Sanitary Napkins. And the women who use cloth, do so because they “prefer” it. It is time we learnt to respect that. There is much an urban woman can learn from their rural counterparts about being environment-friendly and allowing their bodies to be in tune with nature as it was meant to be. Most urban women have lost touch with nature and their bodies natural cycles, and what's worse is that we are trying to impose the same thinking on rural women. Urban women need to learn to learn from the rural woman.
Thanks Sinu for making our city cooler, kinder and more cultured!
Watch the Video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gli7V2t_voI
And the Blog:
http://mythrispeaks.wordpress.com/