Dehradun, 20 April 2021: Euro School, a leading network of K-12 schools collaborated with Rotary Club of Bombay Pier, Rotary Club of Mumbai Salt City in association with Fuel dream, a crowd funding start-up to raise funds for hygiene kits for underprivileged girls and women of Mumbai and surrounding districts. The pandemic has impacted the incomes of several poor families across the country. Basic needs of food & hygiene have also been affected due to the financial crises caused due to the lockdown. Poor menstrual hygiene poses physical health risks and has been linked to reproductive and urinary tract infections. The school leadership & students of Euro School, Airoli, Navi Mumbai, plan to reach out to as many women as they can through various initiatives. Through crowd funding, Euro school Airoli students raised Rs 2.5 million for hygiene kits and this initiative will benefit around 8500 girls and women from weaker sections of society.
The students in the age group 14 to 17 years participated in this campaign launched on 25th March. The campaign ended successfully on 18 April 2021. Before starting this campaign students were given two sessions. In the first, they were introduced to the concept of crowd funding and how Fuel dream along with the Rotary Club of Bombay Pier works for the underprivileged. In the second session, a virtual meeting was conducted on Zoom where they were asked to choose a topic from the list shared with them. Students decided to choose the Hygiene kit campaign for underprivileged girls and women.
Sanitary napkins are a necessity for every woman and access to them is a luxury for girls from weaker sections of society. Each menstrual hygiene pack costs Rs.250 including a distribution cost and this crowd funding will benefit almost 8500 girls and women. Through this campaign, students of Euro School Airoli intend to provide a reusable menstrual hygiene kit that is cost-effective, lasts long, and is not too bulky for the girls from the weaker section. The Hygiene kit consists of 2 regular shields, 6 regular liners, 1 large shield, 2 large liners, 1 Instruction manual, 1 zip lock bag, and 1 drawstring bag to hold everything together. These are stitched by women from low-income homes thus serving as a source of livelihood for them.
Excited about the ongoing campaign, Sudeshna Chatterjee, Principal, Euro School, Airoli, said, “The students of Euro school are at the forefront when it comes to being socially responsible citizens. The best part about our students is they took up an initiative that even elders consider taboo and hardly talk about. This is a much-needed initiative and we were happy to see that this was chosen by our students, among many choices offered by Fuel dream. The target to reach a certain amount of donation defines a strong intention, but the admirable quality of determination to reach the goal that I noticed in our students was unanimous.”