Meet Sana and Sumaira Lokhandwala from Karachi, Pakistan. Sisters and co-founders of HER Pakistan, an initiative with the the aim to empower, and educate Pakistani girls, and women about menstruation, and to ensure they have access to appropriate information and facilities.
Their flagship campaign, Menstrual Hygiene Drive aims to end period poverty by creating a safe and healthy environment for women to menstruate with dignity and confidence. These drives consist of awareness sessions, group discussions, peer-to-peer counselling and interactive teaching tools. They also provide these girls and women with a month’s supply of sanitary products, so they can practice safe and healthy period.
The also have a school puberty education program, which was launched in January of 2019 at The Citizens Foundation College where they held sessions on Puberty for adolescent girls and boys.
Recently, utilizing social media to create awareness, they created a digital community on Facebook called “Oh My Period!” This is a safe space for women from all walks of life to talk about everything related to menstruation, to learn from each other’s experiences, and help each other to have a more pleasant experience going through menstrual cycle. On this forum, everyone is encouraged to talk about their period freely and ask questions without being judged.
Less than a year old (May 2018), this initiative of theirs has garnered great response from local community. Just recently Oxfam in Pakistan recognized both sisters with “Young Humanitarian Award” for their efforts.
Read Sana and Sumaira’s interview with dailytimes Pakistan news: https://dailytimes.com.pk/265021/2-her-pakistan-aims-to-break-period-taboo/
Ismailimail 