Celebrating Raja- with a difference
Raja a widely celebrated 3 day festival in Odisha was celebrated by aaina with a difference this year. Raja festival welcomes monsoon and holds a belief that mother earth menstruates during this time and becomes fertile to produce agricultural crops. aaina took the opportunity to connect the festival with an ongoing project on "Menstrual Hygiene". Raja was celebrated in Bhanjanagar on June 12th and 13th where 100 adolescent girls participated. The two fold objective of the festival was to provide better understanding regarding menstrual hygiene management and bring forward the facts of raja festival to community. The workshop & the stall was inaugurated by Ms. Sneha Mishra, Secretary, aaina, Ms. Mamita Pradhan SEO Bhanjanagar , Mr. Sulapani Satpathy- Social Activist, D.Rawanama-Retd. Head Mistress along with the local media representatives. Ms. Sneha discussed on menstrual cycle and the reproductive cycle among girls and women during menstruation and also brought forward the widely practiced social taboos attached to it. After lunch Mr. Kishor Pradhan & Mr Basant Pattnaik mobilized the group work among the participants and involved them in different games and activities such as musical chair and snakes and ladders. Next day Mr. Krutibas Biswal discussed in further detail about the facts and history of the festival. Ms. D.Rawanama through story forms interacted with participants and discussed their roles and responsibilities during menstruation. Towards the end, documentaries on menstruation were shown to the participants and their experiences on the two day event were shared. It turned out to be a purposeful and event where the target group, adolescent girls and women participated at their maximum and at the same time gathered knowledge on menstrual hygiene management.
