Originating from the belief that menstruation is impure, banishing menstruating women to Period Huts/Kurma Ghars is an unhealthy practice amongst certain tribes in Central India. Each month, custom dictates that a menstruating woman must stay in the thatched hut on the edge of a forest. Out of the 223 Period Huts surveyed, 98 % were found to be unsafe, unhygienic, unsanitary, unhabitable shelters having no electricity, toilet /bath facilities, water supply, causing infections, illnesses and sometimes death amongst menstruating women.

To address these challenges Kherwadi Social Welfare Association has come up with a concept of Converting unsafe Period Huts (Kurma Ghars) into Safe Resting Learning cum Skilling Homes for menstruating women using bottle-bricks, i.e. plastic bottles filled with compacted material like sand to create a dense strong brick for construction.

Each home has:

· an inner room where women rest,

· a toilet, a bath cum washing section and

· a balcony where women relax, learn and practice a skill.

The inner room accommodates beds cum mattresses, a kitchenette, a water filter and a wash basin. It has netted windows, ventilation’s, solar operated fans and lights. The inner room opens out into the balcony, and bathing cum washing section. The balcony opens out into a toilet, and houses equipment for learning a skill. The loft houses the water storage tank powered by solar energy for lifting water, and solar batteries. The compound has a smokeless stove (chulla) and clothes lines.

On April 18, 2021, two Safe Resting Learning cum Skilling Homes were handed over to the village women in Mohali and Fasi Tola villages, Gadchiroli district. The Homes were supported by Shri Dilip Dwarkadas and Navya Naveli Nanda, Project Naveli in collaboration with Mukul Madhav Foundation and implemented by Kherwadi Social Welfare Association.