Distribution - Our Ambassadors
The Ambassadors are trailblazers for the Charity - distributing napkin packs and educating girls about menstruation.
The Ambassadors distribute napkin packs in different areas of India. 'Our People - Our Ambassadors' provides information about individual Ambassadors and their distribution areas. You can also read more about their work in 'Our Stories'.
Hanaru approaches the distribution of packs differently depending on the area.
Delhi Slums
Usually, they organise distribution through community groups in slum areas. They first approach the community leaders in a slum, explain Hanaru's work, and see if distributing napkins to girls there is possible. The community leaders help with the initial organisation and put the Ambassadors in touch with the girls and their parents. The Ambassadors return at a later date to teach the girls about menstruation and distribute the napkins.
These photos show a few of the slums in Delhi where the Ambassadors distribute packs.
Laxmi Park.
Kishan Vihar.
Jahangir Puri.
Schools
Hanaru's Ambassadors distribute the packs in schools in rural areas of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Darjeeling in North-East West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. They first approach the school, talk with the teachers and principals and explain the steps involved. When they have a list of eligible girls along with their parental approvals they return to the schools to teach the girls about menstruation and distribute the packs.
Distributing the napkins at schools has allowed us to expand Hanaru's beneficiaries. Some remote rural areas have much more entrenched beliefs around the taboos of menstruation. Girls in rural communities and those struggling with finance can be given packs and menstrual education.
The principals of schools have also expressed their gratitude that female students become more confident learners and that their ongoing problems with disposable sanitary napkins clogging their toilets are rectified.
Accountability
We organise every step of the distribution process to ensure the best use of money from our supporters' donations.
Each Ambassador completes a form detailing exactly which girls are receiving packs. They take individual photos of the girls after they've completed their menstrual education and received their packs.
Safety
Some Ambassadors also talk to individual families. In one Delhi slum where there wasn’t a strong community leadership one of our Ambassadors only managed to distribute 17 packs before deciding it was not a safe enough area for her to continue her work.
We want our Ambassadors to be as safe as possible while distributing the packs. We recognise that they go to areas where the residents live in inhumane and unhygienic conditions, and we leave it completely to the Ambassador's discretion which slum areas they want to work in. The Delhi Ambassadors were enrolled in the 'National Service Scheme'[1] when they were studying for their Bachelor's Degrees. This scheme allows students to engage in constructive social action through voluntary community service and gives them the background knowledge they need to do this work.
Ambassadors Pooja G left and Priyanka right.
Ambassador Pooja C centre..
Ambassador Pooja centre.
[1] National Service Scheme, https://nss.gov.in/, viewed on 22/02/24