Humans For Humanity (HFH) is a non-governmental organization, founded by renowned social worker Anurag Chauhan, headquartered in Dehradun, India. It is working to bring awareness about menstrual health, hygiene among women across India. It is providing health, hygiene and comfort to women, especially in poverty-stricken and rural areas in India. The organization empowers women by educating women and young girls on menstruation and menstrual hygiene, and by conducting workshops to produce low-cost sanitary pads.[1][2][3] The WASH project started by Humans For Humanity has reached over 3 million women in over 6 states in India in the last 6 years, as of October 2020.[4][5]
 Humans For Humanity's Logo | |
| Formation | 2014 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Anurag Chauhan |
| Founded at | Dehradun, India |
| Headquarters | Dehradun, India |
Region served | India |
Volunteers (2019) | 1500[1] |
| Website | humansforhumanity |
It was founded in 2014 by Anurag Chauhan. For his work with Humans For Humanity, Chauhan honored with the International Women Empowerment Award by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India and UNICEF in 2019.[6] During the pandemic the organisation has been providing aid & essentials to over 8000 families in various parts of the country, supporting communities, low income group families, trans men, widows, maids, etc.[7][8] The NGO has started an employment generation programs to uplift and empower communities, making them financially stable & independent even during the pandemic.[9] The WASH project which is a pilot project of the organisation has been working to promote menstrual hygiene among the women of rural areas of six states of the country including Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana and others, decided to work on the initiative for trans men since last year.[10]
History
editIt was founded in 2014 by social activist Anurag Chauhan.[3]
Initiatives
editWASH
editThe NGO runs a project WASH – Women, Sanitation, Hygiene, which educates rural women about Menstrual hygiene and provides training to them for making bio-degradable Sanitary napkin. It is an initiative to bring awareness among menstruating women. The initiative received support from Bollywood actress Twinkle Khanna.[11] The project is being run in many villages, slums, government schools and colleges across India. It organized hundreds of such workshops and reached out to over 3 million women in India.[12][4][3][13][14]
It trains women to make bio-degradable sanitary pads at an affordable cost. The women-centric workshop is headed by experienced doctors to make women aware of the biological reasons behind menstruation, stages from teenage to menopause, and several hormonal changes. In the community, counseling is provided to women in need who are dealing with menopause. With a separate team of nutritionists, the workshop provides information related to importance of a healthy diet and food. Affordability and quality are the two big concerns in sanitary napkins. Therefore, the organization trains women on how to make good sanitary napkins at their homes. It also covers the adverse effects of poor menstrual hygiene and spreads awareness about the proper disposal of napkins in the waste bin.[1][3]
Stree-The Woman
editIn May 2016, Humans For Humanity launched an initiative called 'Stree-The Woman'.[15] It is a one-day event that focuses on self-growth, self-empowerment and self-love.[16] In 2019, the event was organized by the NGO, in association with Sipping Thoughts and BW Businessworld, which was attended by personalities like Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Liza Verma, Dr. Varun Katyal, Ambika Pillai, Malini Ramani and Sandip Soparrkar.[17]
Breaking the Bloody Taboo
editIn the year 2018, the organization started a new campaign named 'Breaking the Bloody Taboo.' The main aim of this campaign is to stop the old-age taboo against women. In one of the campaigns in Rajasthan, the team members of Humans For Humanity organized a session with young girls and women of menstruating age. In another session, the founder of Humans for Humanity, Anurag Chauhan talked about the importance of holy plant Tulsi and handed over a few leaves to women and asked them to nurture the sampling and observe the results after a month.[1][2][12]
COVID-19 pandemic
editDuring the difficult times of nationwide lockdown in India, Human for Humanity came forward to help women and train them to make hygienic sanitary napkins at home safely.[18] Under the WASH project by Humans for Humanity, the NGO is actively worked in six different states across India to serve and employ women from villages. The initiative has made hundreds of women financially independent and empowered.[19][20][21][22]
During the lockdown in 2020, the workshop fed more than 1200 families in and around the slums of Delhi for six months. Humans For Humanity set up a transit camp and served people in the Kathputli Colony in the Anand Parbat area. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, schools have adapted themselves to online teaching. During these times, Humans for Humanity took the initiative to organize an online traditional puppetry program to give children interactive learning. The aim was to innovate the online learning methods and revive the centuries-old traditional art form. As soon as the lockdown was lifted in Delhi, the NGO started an employment program for street artists. Under the program, the community introduced artists to several schools and helped them generate income through various performances and online events.[23]
Red Cloth Campaign
editIn 2020, Humans For Humanity launched 'Red Cloth Campaign' during the COVID-19 pandemic, to spread awareness about menstruation and bust the taboos. Actor Lisa Ray and singer Shibani Dandekar, Kirti Kulhari, Kubra Sait, Divya Seth supported the campaign along with thousands of social media users.[24]
In April 2022, the WASH project was launched in Telangana by Humans For Humanity and has successfully conducted menstrual hygiene management & health workshops in many villages such as Challur village, Pochampalli village, Ghanmukla village, Reddipalli village, Keshavpatnam and many more.[25]
Other works
editIn September 2019, Humans for Humanity hosted an event called 'The Conversation Fest', in association with Sipping Thoughts, where Karan Johar interviewed Ma Anand Sheela, former spokesperson of Rajneesh movement.[26]
In December 2019, the NGO organized a talk, BW Dialogue in association with BusinessWorld and Sipping Thoughts, where Ma Anand Sheela, candidly recounted her feelings for Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.[27]
Award and recognition
edit| Year | Award | Awarding organisation |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | International Women Empowerment Award | IWES, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India and UNICEF[6] |
| 2019 | International Women's Day He For She Award | Indian Council of UN Relations & Government of Delhi[28] |
References
edit- ^ a b c d Bhattacharyya, Sromona (11 January 2019). "Humans For Humanity: This 24-Yr-Old Man Is Teaching Rural Women To "Break The Bloody Taboo"". The Logical Indian.
- ^ a b Ahuja, Aastha (29 May 2020). "Menstrual Hygiene Day 2020: This NGO Is Teaching People To Produce Reusable Sanitary Kits, Breaking Taboo Around Menstruation". NDTV.
- ^ a b c d Negi, Deepika (29 May 2018). "यह हैं रियल लाइफ के पैडमैन, सेनेटरी पैड लेकर कर रहे हैं जागरूक" (in Hindi). Dainik Jagaran.
- ^ a b "Breaking the BLOODY taboos". Humans of Bombay. 6 October 2020.
- ^ "Ferns N Petals supports Humans for Humanity's WASH Project". Mid-Day. 4 May 2022.
- ^ a b "Award Ceremony". Times Of India. 14 February 2019.
- ^ "Dehradun based NPO is providing aid to around 8000 families across different states". Doon Mirror. 26 June 2021.
- ^ "Menstrual Hygiene Day celebrated in the city with free distribution of eco-friendly sanitary pads". The Times of India. 3 June 2021.
- ^ "NGO ties up with school in Dehradun to revive traditional puppetry with innovative teaching". Hindustan Times. 8 November 2020.
- ^ "World Menstrual Hygiene Day: Uttarakhand activists promote menstrual hygiene among trans community". Hindustan Times. 28 May 2021.
- ^ Budhwar, Yeshika (2 December 2017). "Twinkle Khanna supports NGO's women hygiene cause". The Times of India.
- ^ a b "Breaking The Bloody Taboo For Girls In India". Femalista. 15 May 2018. Archived from the original on 10 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ^ "Chauhan calls on Governor". HTNS. 28 January 2017. Archived from the original on 10 October 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
- ^ "World Menstrual Hygiene Day 2018". Indo American News. 2 May 2018.
- ^ "Humans of Humanity launches "Stree - The Woman"". Dehradun: HTNS. 24 May 2016.
- ^ "BW Businessworld and BW Women partnered Stree-The Woman event postponed". BusinessWorld. 4 March 2020.
- ^ "Capital witnesses one-of-its-kind celebration for women- 'STREE' focused on self-growth, self-empowerment and most importantly self-love". BusinessWorld. 9 August 2019.
- ^ Bali, Etti (25 July 2020). "Bleed with dignity: Sustainable solutions for a healthy period". Hindustan Times.
- ^ S Sen, Debarati (14 July 2020). "Over 100 self-help groups benefit from online cloth pad making workshop". The Times of India.
- ^ Ahuja, Aastha (29 May 2020). "Menstrual Hygiene Day 2020: This NGO Is Teaching People To Produce Reusable Sanitary Kits, Breaking Taboo Around Menstruation". NDTV.
- ^ Gauba, Prerna (26 June 2020). "Maintaining menstrual hygiene in times of Covid-19". Hindustan Times.
- ^ "लॉकडाउन में 'आधी आबादी' के मददगार बने अनुराग चौहान, ऐसे युवाओं पर गर्व है". Rajya Sameeksha. 18 August 2020.
- ^ "NGO ties up with school in Dehradun to revive traditional puppetry with innovative teaching". Hindustan Times. 8 November 2020.
- ^ Garg, Ruchika (30 August 2020). "Break the taboo: Celebs support menstrual health via social media". Hindustan Times.
- ^ "This man is on a mission to spread awareness on menstruation". Telangana Today. 25 April 2022.
- ^ "Ma Anand Sheela To Be In India, To Converse With Karan Johar". BusinessWorld. 20 September 2019.
- ^ "I Went To Bhagwan For I Fell In Love With Him: Ma Anand Sheela". BusinessWorld. 16 December 2019.
- ^ "Celebrating Womanhood". The Asian Age. 4 March 2020.
