Muskan & Mukta
Muskan and Mukta is a Menstrual Health Workshop Kit for Rural Schools. Designed as an Information Kit keeping in mind the sensitive environment in rural India.
Contents of the kit include:
- interactive pdfs
- icebreaking puzzles
- promotional poster
- an info handout
- promotional merchandise
Background
Menstruation is a hush-hush topic in most Indian households, even more so in rural areas, where women don't even leave the house while menstruating to avoid embarrasment. There exist unreasonable superstitions and myths around menstruation that quite often create more trouble than they solve.
The women are never taught about menstrual hygiene and often use old rags to soak up their period blood. This is highly problematic as it can lead to a bundlle of diseases which could be fatal. Healthcare and treatments are sparse and expensive in villages, which only aggravates the problem.
To tackle this situation, a workshop was designed for girls aged 9-18, to try to debunk and destygmatise menstruation. It would address topics like:
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Female Reproductive System
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Periods: What are they? Why do they happen?
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Sanitary Pad: Use and Disposal
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DIY: Cloth Pad
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Hygiene
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Busting Taboos
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Dealing with Puberty
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How to talk to family about periods
Devanagari
Branding
The branding of the workshop was done keeping in mind that menstruation is a taboo subject in rural India and so, addressing it directly will make the workshop unapproachable to many.
The name 'Muskan and Mukta' which means 'Smile and Freedom' reflects strongly the values that this workshop intends to promote.
Keywords:
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Empathetic
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Amicable
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Feminine
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Cute
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Kid-friendly
Latin
Characters
The characters chosen for this project are 2 sisters, Muskan and Mukta. Muskan, the younger one, is curious about her changing body and asks her elder sister, who helps her discover the importance of menstrual health.
Since the topic id very heavy, a conversational tone with cute amicable faces would help the students grasp the information effectively.
Mukta
Muskan
Stylising
Background
Important note
Diagrams
Instructions
Final Identity
Devanagari
Latin
Animatic for the Interactive PDF
Merchandise
This set of merchandise is designed for the workshop's memorability and remind the students of the topic of workshop even after many months or even years.
The deliverables had to be relevant to students of rural schools, so the list of merchandise picked was:
. puzzles
. calendar
. badges
. stickers
. notebook labels
A cycle is roughly 28 days, which is exactly 4 rows down on the calendar. If a student marks the days of her cycle on the calendar, she can easily count down 4 blocks from her first day and see when her next period is going to be. This way she can be better prepared.
Puzzles are a great way to break the ice with kids and can be a good team-building activity.
The images on the puzzles help familiarise the children with the sight of s sanitary napkin or the female reproductive system. That way we can scratch the surface of destigmatising menstruation.
This is an A6 sized accordion calendar with all the months in a continuous strip of paper. The 5x7 grid gives a simple way for the student to keep track of her period.
Notebooks are something children see every day. It . can be a great way to remind them to check up with themselves and see if their menstrual health is okay.
Stickers and badges excite students and the deem these things their treasure. When others see these and ask about what these badges or stickers are, they might find out about the workshop and might want the workshop to happen at another school.
