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Volunteers

Volunteers and MHM The Pad Programme selects volunteers for menstrual hygiene management activities    in schools and communities which are involved in the following.

  • Talking with women and girls about menstruation, their needs, preferences, practices, cultural taboos and restrictions they face.

  • Assisting with distributions of menstrual hygiene items and materials, including conducting demonstrations and hygiene promotion.

  • Engaging and communicating with men and boys on menstrual hygiene.

  • Collecting feedback from women, girls, boys and men on MHM activities, support provided, needs and challenges they face

SELECTION OF VOLUNTEERS FOR MHM ACTIVITIES

Our selection of volunteers is based on an understanding of the local socio-cultural context and what is appropriate for the specific community we are working with. In some places, it is appropriate for female volunteers to discuss MHM with other women and girls, and for male volunteers to discuss MHM with men and boys. In other places, it is different. We ask and listen to community members themselves for guidance on this –we do not rely only on National Society staff who may come from other communities, area or background.

The Pad Programme important considerations when identifying and selecting volunteers for MHM activities:

  • Sex of volunteers. It is always important to include both male and female volunteers in MHM activities! In many communities and cultures, menstrual hygiene is closely linked with fertility and reproduction, and is seen as a ‘family issue’. Women and men may need to be consulted or triggered separately; with female volunteers for the women and male volunteers for the men. Depending on the context, after initial consultation women and men may be able to be mixed and have a discussion together on MHM. Male volunteers are also likely to be involved with other MHM-related activities such as water supply, sanitation, distributions, or hygiene promotion activities etc.

  • Culture and language of affected communities, especially important in refugee or population movement contexts where people have been displaced. Different volunteers may be needed to engage and communicate with displaced and host communities.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

  • Age of volunteers who will be discussing MHM directly with affected communities. Younger adolescent girls may find it easier to discuss MHM and be more open with adult volunteers, rather than volunteers who are their peers. Older women and men may find it embarrassing or inappropriate to discuss personal or intimate matters with younger volunteers.

  • Trusted sources of information for personal health issues such as menstrual hygiene. Women and girls trust information from coming from their mothers, aunties, teachers or local health workers – rather than from agencies or government departments. Men may trust information coming from community or religious leaders, or health workers. It is important to understand where different segments of community get their information from, and which sources they trust. This is especially critical for effectively addressing cultural taboos, myths and misinformation around menstruation.

Teachers and parents’ groups can be engaged for activities in local schools. Local community leaders, influencers, religious leaders and traditional healers or women’s health providers can also be used to engage with women, girls, men and boys. 

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