Adolescent Girls, DAB

Next the adolescent girls came in. About twenty girls aged thirteen to twenty one streamed in wearing a variety of colors in both Indian and western styles. They introduced themselves to all of us, name, age and school class. Unfortunately several of the girls had dropped out. One girl had suffered from an eye condition and had left school for awhile. When she convalesced however, she was not allowed to re-enter school. The is an absurd policy that if you do not attend school for a certain amount of time, your name is crossed off the list and cannot be added. Another girl who left after sixth class had had to care for her family. It is not uncommon for an elder sibling to essentially raise their brothers and sisters. For example we met one girl who sold chapatis on the street of the slum all day for money to survive. Her mother had left with a man and she was in charge of raising the family. Another girl's father was an alcoholic so she had to provide for the family. The only option for these girls to continue their education is for them to participate in a program called Correspondence. A student is enrolled, given schoolwork, and graded on completion. There is no actual teaching available. Asha is working on helping some girls get back into the system but for now they are encouraged to learn a trade. One girl sews to make some money during the day. Overall the situation of girls in the slums is in some ways the lowest of the low.
On the bright side, one young woman, Vinita, is going to college! She is a very petite girl, hardly reaching my shoulder, who just began the very challenging course of economics at Delhi University. She speaks the best English by far of the group and I'm sure will go far wit her ambition and commitment. Other girls have ambitions to join the air hostess academy, to be a teacher, or, somewhat in jest, to marry an American man and go to the US. It is so important for these girls to see their peers and even myself and Madeleine as role models for what a girl can do.

The next day, we began our health classes with the girls. We had them write down on a piece of paper any questions they have relating to health education, so that they would not feel shy. Dr. Krishna translated them for us. The girls had a lot of interest in HIV/AIDS, as well as the menstrual cycle and pregnancy. Our first class addressed menstruation. We explained the ovulation cycle using print outs as well as the white board to illustrate what occurred. Then we addressed the social side of it, something which is crucial to be culturally sensitive about. Traditionally here, when a woman has her period she is considered to be dirty. She is not allowed in the kitchen to cook or in the temple to pray, and is generally shunned until it is over. We explained that menstruation is a normal part of being a woman, and does not make you unclean in any way. We then went over how best to keep clean and dry during this time. Sanitary pads are too expensive for some, so they use a cloth which they wash daily. We next explained what a tampon was. The girls were shocked. They had never seen or heard of this before. They winced as we explained how to use it, and were convinced it was either painful or would get stuck. One girl, Anjum, did most of the talking in her strong, low voice, as the other girls giggled or whispered to her what to ask. It was a really interesting moment of cross cultural difference mixed with the commonality of all being young woman; we shared a lot of laughs.