A chance meeting helped Hamida become a menstrual health and hygiene advocate

Attending a ward meeting of World Vision's Water for Women SHOMOTA project proved a turning point in Hamida Begum's life. Her physical disability had held her back from fully participating in her community, but being elected a member her ward's Water and Sanitation Committee (WATSAN) helped give her a voice and the project provided training and tools to help Hamida become a menstrual health and hygiene champion for her remote community, helping women and girls manage their period safely and with dignity. (World Vision Bangladesh / Prodip Kumar Sarker)

Life was a struggle for Hamida Begum and her family. Born with a physical disability, participating in her community day-to-day was a challenge for Hamida. Living with her husband, a day labourer, and their three children in Bangladesh’s Jamalpur District, hunger and hardship was a daily battle.

That was until a chance meeting. Hamida attended a ward meeting with the SHOMOTA project, a Water for Women project being delivered by World Vision and supported by the Australian government, to improve access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and strengthen gender equality and social inclusion in WASH, the project focuses on reaching women and girls, including those living with a disability.

For Hamida, this meeting proved a turning point.

Hamida was elected a member of her ward’s Water and Sanitation Committee (WATSAN). The committee works to improve community sanitation, including by health care initiatives, supplying hand washing equipment, latrine construction, and education via courtyard meetings. Through this participation, she overcame doubts of the community and doubts of her own and began talking to women and girls about menstrual health and the importance of hand washing.

People began paying more attention to what Hamida was saying, her confidence grew. However, through this work, she also noticed what was missing. Her community’s remoteness and lack of a market meant people had nowhere to buy sanitary napkins and hand washing products. So, with support from her husband, Hamida came up with a plan to fix this.

Hamida used money raised from selling chickens to buy hygiene products, including sanitary napkins, buckets and water tapes, soap, detergent powder, from a town 20 kilometres away. She then went door-to-door selling products at an affordable price to women and girls in her community.

Impressed by her enthusiasm and resourcefulness, the WATSAN Committee chose Hamida as a woman entrepreneur to go through training with the SHOMOTA project, they also helped helped her source supplies.

Today, Hamida is an MHH advocate, she has helped improve her community's health and sanitation. More women now use sanitary napkins, more houses have hand washing facilities and use soap. People call her a women's advisor, and napkin apa. The additional income is also helping her family access food and education.

Life is full of possibility for Hamida, she is still a member of the Ward WATSAN as well as Union WATSAN Committee of the Union-based Self Help Group for the disabled people. She is a natural leader, conducting hygiene sessions regularly, during monthly meetings and at other social events in her community. She loves participating fully in her community and helping others, there is no turning back for Hamida!

Read our #MHDay2022 Insight: 

The hard and soft of committing to menstrual health and hygiene in WASH