Don Bosco Tech Society aims to provide the youth a holistic growth. Keeping this in mind guest lecture for the ‘Women Health and Hygiene’ was conducted for the trainees of Sabbavaram center on February 25, 2020. Sr. Lysamma, qualified General Nursing and Midwifery practicing at Nava Jeevan Bala Bhavan, Sabbavaram, was the resource person of the day.

Sr. Lysamma was pleased to address the trainees. She started the session with the slogan "Health is wealth". Then she continued the session by underlining the importance of health in our life. “Health and Hygiene” she continued “is all about educating the rural-poor women about the same since the large number die every year in India due to menstrual issues.” Underlining the actual scenario of women’s health and hygiene in India, she said, “Only 12% Indians i.e. 355 million menstruating women use sanitary napkins. Over 88% of women resort to shocking alternatives like unsanitized cloth, ashes, and husk sand. Incidents of Reproductive Tract Infection (RTI) are 70% among these women. Inadequate menstrual protection makes adolescent girls (age group 12-18 years) miss five days of school in a month i.e. 50 days a year. Around 23% of these girls drop out of school after they started menstruating.”

The biggest barrier to using a sanitary napkin she said, “is affordability.” Adding “around 70% of women in India say their family can't afford to buy them.” Countering this major problem in India she said, “We started making handmade Sanitary Napkins from cotton cloth and have been distributing free of cost in urban slums as well as villages. Workshops are held at various government schools and colleges with young girls to bring awareness of the same by lady doctors and our volunteers. We also have been teaching women & girls how to make their sanitary napkin which has also become a source of income as these women make napkins in bulk and sell it at very low rates in their surroundings.”

Sr. Lysamma said she was happy to share about health and hygiene to the trainees so that they can take some precautions for themselves. The trainees too were happy and benefited to a large extent. The students found this lecture very useful and vouched to apply the learnings in their life. The guest lecture ended with a vote of thanks proposed by  P. Rani (Trainer, CE, ITES) for sparing her valuable time and sharing her knowledge with the trainees. The session ended with a group photo.

The inaugural ceremony was held on February 5, 2020, for the Accenture Year 10, Batch 2, and Batch 3 at Don Bosco Tech (Raipur). The event was organized in the hall of the center where 50 persons including forty-two trainees, trainers, parents as well as guests were present to witness this occasion.