Meri Body appeals- 'Leave no girl behind'
Donation protected
Menstruation Hygiene Day (May, 28th)
’It’s time to take action’!
"Help to eradicate period poverty"!
What is Period Poverty?
It's the lack of access to sanitary products, menstrual hygiene education, toilets, hand washing facilities and waste management.
Background - problem?
In a land of 1.3 billion people, half of them being under the age of 25 years, it's hard to imagine that millions of low-educated adolescents and young women still think that they can get pregnant during their period days. Can you visualise a girl in 8th grade at school with blood soaked clothes, embarrassed because no one told her it's normal to have periods as a teenager and crying because of fear of dying? Girls struggle with period shaming and being denied access to kitchens and prayer spaces, because they are thought to be 'filthy'.
Solution - e-health app
As a social enterprise our team is result driven to make a huge wave of change through mobile technology (www.meribody.com). We have developed an e-health app with simple animation videos and multi-lingual voice overs to educate millions of (semi) illiterate young women (aged 15-25) on body literacy. With Meri Body (meaning “my body” in Hindi) we propose to share knowledge on periods and reproductive healthcare. Our aim is to build happy communities of young girls who gather together in rural and peri-urban areas, holding their smartphones and speaking freely about menstruation because they've been given access to knowledge through a customised tool!
Why do we need funding?
At this point, we have built a MVP (minimum viable product)
. The initial app includes illustrations in four languages. We need to however expand on three different areas:
- Develop functionalities further and expand the reach as India has 23 constitutionally recognised languages;
- Undertake roadshows and campaigns to reach the secluded areas where education is low; and
- Start validation and research that underpins our advocacy work and improves our activities.
How MeriBody was Born - the Founder's story:
Our Founder, Namita Krul-Taneja, struggles to live in a world where young girls and adolescents miss out on opportunities because they were born to a family who can't afford to educate them and where social burdens (due to misconceptions and taboos) and stigma's reign. Why are millions of adolescents deprived of simple benefits and forced to live in ignorance? This lack of knowledge has led to unwanted pregnancies and millions of abortions each year (National estimate of 15.6 million abortions in 2015).
Through her work-life experience as a social entrepreneur (since 2010) she's gained first-hand information from women at the grass-root level. She heard stories about school dropouts, lack of sanitary pads, mothers not discussing periods with their daughters, girls being wed at a very young age, not using contraceptives but depending on their husbands to use a condom and getting pregnant each year. She was lucky to be born in a family where 'freedom of choice' was a given. Now, her purpose in life is to create similar opportunities for others through sharing basic knowledge. Read more about Namita https://bit.ly/2Yry3XJ
Let's pledge to eradicate period poverty so that the adolescents can take informed decisions about their lives. Help us to build a huge community of well-informed human beings. Please support our cause, and donate now! Download the app through Google Play Store and share your feedback too. Looking forward to engage with you. Thank you.
’It’s time to take action’!
"Help to eradicate period poverty"!
What is Period Poverty?
It's the lack of access to sanitary products, menstrual hygiene education, toilets, hand washing facilities and waste management.
Background - problem?
In a land of 1.3 billion people, half of them being under the age of 25 years, it's hard to imagine that millions of low-educated adolescents and young women still think that they can get pregnant during their period days. Can you visualise a girl in 8th grade at school with blood soaked clothes, embarrassed because no one told her it's normal to have periods as a teenager and crying because of fear of dying? Girls struggle with period shaming and being denied access to kitchens and prayer spaces, because they are thought to be 'filthy'.
Solution - e-health app
As a social enterprise our team is result driven to make a huge wave of change through mobile technology (www.meribody.com). We have developed an e-health app with simple animation videos and multi-lingual voice overs to educate millions of (semi) illiterate young women (aged 15-25) on body literacy. With Meri Body (meaning “my body” in Hindi) we propose to share knowledge on periods and reproductive healthcare. Our aim is to build happy communities of young girls who gather together in rural and peri-urban areas, holding their smartphones and speaking freely about menstruation because they've been given access to knowledge through a customised tool!
Why do we need funding?
At this point, we have built a MVP (minimum viable product)
. The initial app includes illustrations in four languages. We need to however expand on three different areas:
- Develop functionalities further and expand the reach as India has 23 constitutionally recognised languages;
- Undertake roadshows and campaigns to reach the secluded areas where education is low; and
- Start validation and research that underpins our advocacy work and improves our activities.
How MeriBody was Born - the Founder's story:
Our Founder, Namita Krul-Taneja, struggles to live in a world where young girls and adolescents miss out on opportunities because they were born to a family who can't afford to educate them and where social burdens (due to misconceptions and taboos) and stigma's reign. Why are millions of adolescents deprived of simple benefits and forced to live in ignorance? This lack of knowledge has led to unwanted pregnancies and millions of abortions each year (National estimate of 15.6 million abortions in 2015).
Through her work-life experience as a social entrepreneur (since 2010) she's gained first-hand information from women at the grass-root level. She heard stories about school dropouts, lack of sanitary pads, mothers not discussing periods with their daughters, girls being wed at a very young age, not using contraceptives but depending on their husbands to use a condom and getting pregnant each year. She was lucky to be born in a family where 'freedom of choice' was a given. Now, her purpose in life is to create similar opportunities for others through sharing basic knowledge. Read more about Namita https://bit.ly/2Yry3XJ
Let's pledge to eradicate period poverty so that the adolescents can take informed decisions about their lives. Help us to build a huge community of well-informed human beings. Please support our cause, and donate now! Download the app through Google Play Store and share your feedback too. Looking forward to engage with you. Thank you.
Organizer
Namita Krul
Organizer
Rijswijk, NL, 11