Junior Chamber International (JCI) Dhaka Uptown and The Help Project have taken the initiative to jointly launch Project Komol.
This project is targeted to promote menstrual hygiene and distribute sanitary pads to underprivileged people in all the divisions of Bangladesh. An alarming number of women and transgender communities, especially in the rural regions are unaware of the hazards that come with not maintaining proper menstrual hygiene. Lack of knowledge, poor hygiene practices, and unaffordable sanitary pads have resulted in life-threatening diseases and caused deaths.
Ubiquitous stigmas related to menstruation have persevered in Bangladeshi society as far as one can remember. This has resulted in people shunning away from discussing this essential topic resulting in little to no knowledge being passed down to young girls who would, or are going through puberty. To make matters worse, these girls at a very early age are taught the shrewd art of discreet hygiene maintenance during menstruation. Although people living in urban cities are more aware and conscious, a very large number of people living in the rural regions of Bangladesh are not. Thus, it is crucial to educate the families and help young adolescence to tackle the macroaggressions associated with menstruation at homes, schools, and public places. Families need to be taught about the very natural process of menstruation which is intrinsically linked with a woman’s reproductive health, physical and mental anatomy. Educating more people about this topic will eventually help establish that menstruation is not a matter of shame.
Project Komol is designed and developed to help the underprivileged population to create awareness and provide them with essential knowledge on menstrual education. The project aimed to distribute 3 months’ menstrual hygiene products from Pee Safe Bangladesh to as many underprivileged people across all the regions in the country, and conduct workshops to educate them about the insights of menstrual hygiene.
Sponsored by Glamshow and powered by Karotoa Green Spinning Mills Ltd, Project Komol asks for donations from everyone who would like to come ahead and help out for this cause.
Raisa Naser Khan, the founder of Glamshow and The Help Project understood the sheer urgency to tackle menstrual hygiene health in this country. She has witnessed menstrual hygiene to be a topic of taboo as she grew up. The topic was actively avoided in homes and at schools. Misinformation and ignorance became the main factor behind the deaths of several women and transgender people. For a long time, she wanted to do something about this. So, when the idea was put forward by the local President, Rezwanur Rahman of JCI Dhaka Uptown, she jumped at the opportunity to be a part of this ambitious project, and in September 2021, The JCI Dhaka Uptown and The Help Project began work on the project.
The chairperson of committees along with The Help Project’s research team, consisting of Tanha Tanjin, Mehreen Kashfi Maliha, Hasin Bin Hanif & Naimul Kader Antar has pro-actively worked to research and develop concepts which were crucial to the topic of female hygiene and its awareness.
Senator Rezwanur Rahman, the local President of JCI Dhaka Uptown talked about how his organization has been working to promote gender equality and affordable education for the underprivileged. He believes that Project Komol is one of the stepping stones towards achieving the Sustainable Developments Goals set by the United Nations for Bangladesh. He claimed that it was the right decision to ensure equality, justice, and providing basic health care.
In a statement, he said, “In the present generation, we have seen these young and dynamic women work in different innovative sectors regarding gender equality, quality education, etc. If a woman gets justice for harassment or any different issues, then a man and a transgender person gets justice. We have a persistent vision to work with crucial subjects that need development in our country. If we do not step forward for such cases today, who will?”
The project took part throughout November followed by hygiene products distribution in all of Dhaka city and a few districts outside the capital. They hosted online and offline female hygiene workshops to educate them and to help build awareness. Many people from different sectors came to actively take part in this project.
Alhajj Jarunur Rashid, the Chairman of Asian TV commended Dhaka Uptown, The Help Project and Glamshow for taking such a great initiative for helping the young generation and stated that the project has all his support for the distribution of hygiene products.
Barrister S.M Saifullah Rahman, the central member of the Awami Jubo League was also present in this program. He expressed his eagerness to participate in similar projects in the future that will work towards the betterment of women, youth and the underprivileged.
The organizers of Project Komol have paved the way to show that it is time to build a progressive nation. It is time to break from the taboos and stigmas and have open discussions about the problems to bring in innovative solutions. It is high time that the female and transgender population of our society gets access to basic menstrual health products and support.
It is a collective effort to ensure that more than half of our population are following safe menstrual hygiene practices. Menstruation should not be a barrier to career or day-to-day life. Project Komol takes a stand for a better future, for changes that we need to bring together.