Dharamshala: The Women’s Empowerment Desk under Department of Finance, Central Tibetan Administration, has organised a series of virtual workshops on Menstrual Health & Hygiene Management and Puberty for 12 Tibetan schools from June till October 2021. The objective of these workshops is to generate awareness on Menstrual Health & Hygiene Management and on Puberty. It aims to break the stereotype and misconception attached with menstruation.
Around 600 students from class 7-12 participated in these workshops. Both young boys and girls attended the session and participated equally. Along with menstrual health, the notion of adolescent health was also discussed during the session. The key topics covered in the session were on Puberty, understanding sexual and reproductive health, why women menstruate, menstrual cycle, menstrual product, menstrual tracking and hygiene. Many of the students enjoyed these conversation and felt that discussion on such topics needs to be more to create more awareness and also break the taboo and shame surrounding this issue.
“With this series of workshops organised by WED and conducted by Drokmo, we have been able to make the best of the situation and ensure that the very essential work of menstrual health education continues to reach adolescents through the spirit of community care and responsibility from both the government and civil society,” Kaysang, co founder of Drokmo, said.
“It is extremely important to continue doing this work with adolescents year after year and to maintain consistent contact, as this is one of the most crucial periods of growth for a child as they slowly grow into adults. Drokmo is incredibly grateful that the Tibetan communities in exile and the Central Tibetan Administration through WED are creating these essential spaces for conversation and knowledge building for the younger generation of Tibetans,” she added.
The workshops were facilitated by Drokmo, which is an NGO based in Dharamshala.
Report filed by Women’s Empowerment Desk, SARD (Department of Finance)