Co-discovery

Urban Slums

Sometimes, urbanisation affects regions at the edges of big cities, ofen benefiting them because they become more connected to municipal life. However, these communities usually aren’t prepared for the “urban lifestyle”. Life rapidly becomes too expensive for the villagers, they don’t have the skill sets required for higher paying jobs so find themselves pushed into the informal economy to survive. With more choice but less opportunity, the pressures of urban life erode on the quality of life in general. As certain neighbourhoods become marked for the informal workers’ settlements, they begin to be identified as low-cost living areas – ofen leading to overcrowding. (Habitat for Humanity Great Britan, no date) As more and more people move in to cities from rural parts of India, the poplulations of the slums rise.

Slums do not have the infrastructure to support its existing inhabitants so when more people move in, this system only gets more strained.

There are efforts being made by governement, non-government and charitable organizations, to improve the quality of lives of people living in slums. Work is being done to improve sanitation facilities, electricity, permanent housing, education and skill development.

The researcher interacted with women and Primary Healthcare Centre in the NBT Nagar Slum, Hyderabad, India. This slum has an approximate population of 10,000 people.

Image 36- Screenshot of aerial view of NBT nagar slum from Google Earth

Women in Urban Slums

In order to dive deeper into the lives of the women in slums the researcher took a step backwards. By using an educational video made by a charitable organization called Maitri(2015), the researcher tried to gauge the depth of knowledge that these women possessed about menstrual health. The video explains all the aspects of menstruation from hygiene to health management in simple words. Afer showing this video to the target group the researcher asked them a set of questions in order to check their understanding of the subject and identify the gaps. Two such sessions were held with four women.

Reflections: This co-discovery session was slightly challenging. The women were skeptical in the beginning. I was surprised to find that they didn't know basic things like, why they menstruate even when they have had children. I presumed that they would have made a connection between the two. I approached the situation with a lot more sensitivity and carefully explained each topic that was shown in the video. It helped to make the atmosphere more light-hearted and fun than making it seem like a classroom.

Findings

From the co- discovery, it was found that all four women did not know the following:

What are periods? Why do we bleed? What is PMS? How does it affect me?

Is heavy bleeding good?

vaginal discharge? Is it normal?

colour of my period blood mean anything?

Does the foul smell indicate anything?

How do I dispose my used menstrual products? Does the

How do I sanitize my reusable products? What is

What kind of products are available to me? What kind of foods are good for me?

Is it a myth/taboo or is it actually true?

How do I calculate the length of my cycle?

How do I manage my period pain? It was observed that two of the four women were inquisitive and eager to learn. They even prompted their partner to ask questions.

One of the four women showed little interest and was slightly

uncomfortable

Two of the four women wanted to learn more but they were shy and held back from asking questions.

Key Insights

Even though the number of participants were less, it was observed that there were three kinds of women:

The advocate- She did not have much knowledge but she was eager to learn and make sure that her friends understood the topics well.

The learner- She did not have much knowledge but she was willing to learn and showed some eagerness. If she is given an incentive she will most likely participate.

The shy one- She did not have much knowledge but she was still reluctant to learn and engage in conversation.