Lets Talk Period- EVOLVE organises Walkathon for Menstrual Health
Mangalore Today News Network
Mangaluru, Mar 21, 2022: A Walkathon for a cause -WALK FOR MENSTRUAL HEALTH , #LetsTalkPeriod to create awareness of the need for Good Menstrual Health management was organized on 20 March 2022. The walkathon was flagged off at 6.30 am by Mangaluru Police Commissionerate Assistant Commissioner of Police (Central ) P A Hegde, along with International athlete, National gold medal winner and Abakka awardee Ms Shreema Priyadarshini from the Bharath Mall premises. Hundreds of young, middle-aged and seniors participated in the walk which commenced starting from Bharath Mall, proceeding towards Ballalbagh-M G Road-P V S junction-Bunts Hostel, and turning back towards P V S- M G Road-Ballal Bagh and ending at the start point. The walk also saw participation of special guests, where nearly 20 differently-abled kids from Lions Club Special School Surathkal.
Addressing the gathering Ms Shreema Priyadarshini said, “A couple of years ago when I was involved in a project to distribute sanitary pads to girls of a government school in a rural area, I was surprised to note these girls were not aware of the word ‘Sanitary Pads’ , and were still using the cloth during their menstrual time. Taking initiative from my part, I explained to these girls about the sanitary pads, how beneficiary they are and how to use them. These girls were quite shy to know or talk about sanitary pads, and I tried my best to make them understand about the usefulness of pads for hygiene and health benefits. I urge EVOLVE to organize programmes in rural areas and educate them about the use of sanitary pads, and I will be happy to join in such projects. Women should make some time everyday to engage themselves in physical exercises. This walk is indeed a great awareness programme pertaining to menstrual health”
Dr Deepak Shedde, a renowned Obstetrics and Gynaecologist from KMC, Mangaluru who was the guest for the valedictory of the walk addressing the crowd said “I have noticed that when women want to talk about menstruation, they whisper out of shy There is nothing to be shy of, when it comes to menstruation time. Periods are not dirty, Periods are not unholy, Periods are not Evil’.
By organizing this walkathon, the women entrepreneurs of EVOLVE have done a great job by bringing awareness on menstrual health, showing that women can talk openly rather than whisper about menstruation. Periods can make women feel uncomfortable, but talking about them shouldn’t. Women need to drop the shame and start talking more openly and honestly about menstruation. Today I am happy to see so many men supporting this cause. I wish EVOLVE the very best for their future endeavours .Unfortunately there’s still a lack of understanding about what’s happening to a girl’s body when she starts menstruating. Lack of menstrual education and the stigma attached to periods mean girls don’t feel comfortable talking about it with their parents, peers, or teachers. Having a first period can be an incredibly scary and daunting experience if you haven’t been told what is happening. One that would be made much easier if girls had the support and advice they needed to confidently manage this new transition in their life. Education and awareness programmes play a vital role in eliminating the myths and stigma associated with menstruation. And for that matter EVOLVE has done a great job in educating women about menstruation ” added Dr Shedde.
Participants received prizes for various things, like the oldest participant male and female, Best Fashionista, most number of selfies taken during the walk, and the emcee of the event RJ Anurag R Bangera kept people on their toes with fun and games like women doing the most number of push ups and an interesting turning game for men. Prizes included Five thousand worth salon services from Green Trends, an Unisex salon in Attavar for three participants. Three participants won six month, three month and one month gym memberships from ATOMM gym , a top gym of Mangalore at Mannagudda.
The main sponsors were- Earthly by Elanza and Decathlon; Co-sponsors- St George’s Homeopathy, US Pizza, Warm Oven; Refreshment sponsor- Raw Pressery; Fitness Partner-Atomm Gym; Event sponsors- Ideal Ice Cream, Euro Kids, Herb Fusion, Baker’s Treat, Green Trends, MS Sports, Stonesoup; Media sponsor- United Toyota; Print sponsor- Ashiba Signage; In-kind sponsors- Sankalpa Angadi, Artly Soul, My Fin Help, Ideal Chicken, among others.
All participants each got discount vouchers from Ideal Chicken, Green Trends, Baker’s Treat, St. George’s Homeopathic products, Navi Naturals, Ruchik Heat and Eat products from M. Dsouza Caterers, Manikya Silks & Suits, Saira the Fashion Boutique, Mango grove, Indiana Burgers, Warm Oven, Kaati zone , U.S Pizza and three day trial vouchers from Atom Gym.
This Walkathon was centred on driving the message not only as a women centric movement but more importantly as a public health initiative to create a safe, healthy and comfortable environment for girls and women during their menstruation. EVOLVE with its members strives to enable this change through this initiative with the support of the people of Mangaluru and to spread the message.There are over 355 million menstruating women and girls in India, but millions of women across the country still face significant barriers to a comfortable and dignified experience with menstrual hygiene management. 71 % of young girls report to not having any knowledge of mensturation before their first period.
Many are in shock, fear , guilt or anxiety when these sudden changes come over their body. Societal restrictions during menstruation violate women’s right to health, equality and privacy. Sources reveal that women and girls are kept in isolation, not allowed to enter religious places or kitchens, play outside or even go to schools during menstruation. There is little knowledge about the health consequences of using unhygienic methods for menstrual management.
EVOLVE was inaugurated on November 19th, 2020 and was brought into existence by 8 women from different business backgrounds with the common goal in mind that is to create a platform for Women Business owners to grow and evolve in all aspects of business management and to create a peer to peer support group for the same to enable them to take their businesses to the next level.The founder members are Vathika Pai, Nandita Aroor Rao, Raksha Bhat, Jayshree Rathihalli, Amrutha Nayak, Sushma Rao, Maryam Mohiudeen and Divya Dsouza, a group of women who came together discussing and deciding a need for a support group for women. Not just a support group, but more importantly a platform where women business owners from every background would need to collaborate and join together and help each other to elevate our businesses to higher levels of success. The Office bearers are Divya Dsouza ( President ), Vathika Pai ( Vice- President ), Raksha Bhat ( Secretary), Jayashree Rathihalli ( Joint Secretary ) and Nandita Aroor Rao ( Treasurer ).
The team has organised several resource and skill development programs virtually during the pandemic and also some offline programs on topics like Social media marketing, Personal Finance , E Commerce , Everyday Nutrition, Women’s health, Business Etiquette and Dressing and so on. It has many more activities scheduled to enable its member to scale up , grow and EVOLVE !