UNICEF-0435-0451 Magdalene Tripura, 33, NGO Forum Menstrual Hygiene Manger (MHM). Teaching Adolescent Volunteers how to make proper way of Sentry Napkins. Magdalene Tripura, 33, NGO Forum Menstrual Hygiene Manger (MHM) “My job is to run the MHM programme. I have 11 volunteers under me - I send them to camp households as well as visit myself. How receptive is the refugee community to your MHM message? “The day before we visit, we notify the refugees that we are coming and get their permission to do so. The next day we go to the shelters and try to gather 12 to 15 women and young females aged between 18-45. We also look after younger adolescent girls. When we sit with them, a whole array of problems come out. Typically it may be water shortage problems which we try and help them sort out, before moving on to more sensitive subjects such as MHM. You deliver your MHM message to separated age groups? “We have to address everyone who is of menstruating age. But it’s much better to do this in separate sessions, because a daughter-in-law maybe embarrassed to discuss such matters in front of her mother-in-law and vice versa. Do you have to battle against rumour and myth in relation to the delivery of you MHM message? “At the beginning we do not go to the MHM issue because it’s so taboo. We have to approach the subject gradually, usually by discussing general hygiene issues at first. Only after we have won the confidence of the refugees do we move on to the more sensitive issues. It must be very difficult for a young girl who is experiencing her first menstrual cycle in the camps? “That is why we try to involve a girl’s mother, so that she can prepare her daughter for what lies ahead. We have 11 volunteers in Camp Two, daily distributing about 70 sanitary napkin packs (10 in each pack) that we have made at our centre. It much less embarrassing for young girls to be given sanitary towels in the safety of their homes than it is for them to venture outside to get them.” Camp Two, Kutupalong camp.Ukhia, Cox’s Bazar. Photo: b.a. sujaN / UNICEF / Map

UNICEF-0435-0451 Magdalene Tripura, 33, NGO Forum Menstrual Hygiene Manger (MHM). Teaching Adolescent Volunteers how to make proper way of Sentry Napkins. Magdalene Tripura, 33, NGO Forum Menstrual Hygiene Manger (MHM) “My job is to run the MHM programme. I have 11 volunteers under me - I send them to camp households as well as visit myself. How receptive is the refugee community to your MHM message? “The day before we visit, we notify the refugees that we are coming and get their permission to do so. The next day we go to the shelters and try to gather 12 to 15 women and young females aged between 18-45. We also look after younger adolescent girls. When we sit with them, a whole array of problems come out. Typically it may be water shortage problems which we try and help them sort out, before moving on to more sensitive subjects such as MHM. You deliver your MHM message to separated age groups? “We have to address everyone who is of menstruating age. But it’s much better to do this in separate sessions, because a daughter-in-law maybe embarrassed to discuss such matters in front of her mother-in-law and vice versa. Do you have to battle against rumour and myth in relation to the delivery of you MHM message? “At the beginning we do not go to the MHM issue because it’s so taboo. We have to approach the subject gradually, usually by discussing general hygiene issues at first. Only after we have won the confidence of the refugees do we move on to the more sensitive issues. It must be very difficult for a young girl who is experiencing her first menstrual cycle in the camps? “That is why we try to involve a girl’s mother, so that she can prepare her daughter for what lies ahead. We have 11 volunteers in Camp Two, daily distributing about 70 sanitary napkin packs (10 in each pack) that we have made at our centre. It much less embarrassing for young girls to be given sanitary towels in the safety of their homes than it is for them to venture outside to get them.” Camp Two, Kutupalong camp.Ukhia, Cox’s Bazar. Photo: b.a. sujaN / UNICEF / Map

UNICEF-0435-0451 Magdalene Tripura, 33, NGO Forum Menstrual Hygiene Manger (MHM). Teaching Adolescent Volunteers how to make proper way of Sentry Napkins. Magdalene Tripura, 33, NGO Forum Menstrual Hygiene Manger (MHM) “My job is to run the MHM programme. I have 11 volunteers under me - I send them to camp households as well as visit myself. How receptive is the refugee community to your MHM message? “The day before we visit, we notify the refugees that we are coming and get their permission to do so. The next day we go to the shelters and try to gather 12 to 15 women and young females aged between 18-45. We also look after younger adolescent girls. When we sit with them, a whole array of problems come out. Typically it may be water shortage problems which we try and help them sort out, before moving on to more sensitive subjects such as MHM. You deliver your MHM message to separated age groups? “We have to address everyone who is of menstruating age. But it’s much better to do this in separate sessions, because a daughter-in-law maybe embarrassed to discuss such matters in front of her mother-in-law and vice versa. Do you have to battle against rumour and myth in relation to the delivery of you MHM message? “At the beginning we do not go to the MHM issue because it’s so taboo. We have to approach the subject gradually, usually by discussing general hygiene issues at first. Only after we have won the confidence of the refugees do we move on to the more sensitive issues. It must be very difficult for a young girl who is experiencing her first menstrual cycle in the camps? “That is why we try to involve a girl’s mother, so that she can prepare her daughter for what lies ahead. We have 11 volunteers in Camp Two, daily distributing about 70 sanitary napkin packs (10 in each pack) that we have made at our centre. It much less embarrassing for young girls to be given sanitary towels in the safety of their homes than it is for them to venture outside to get them.” Camp Two, Kutupalong camp.Ukhia, Cox’s Bazar. Photo: b.a. sujaN / UNICEF / Map