STORYTELLER: Anita Kumari LOCATION: Gumla, Jharkhand
‘‘
I work as a Sahiya (community health worker) in Gumla. I had heard about CycleBeads during a radio discussion in 2008. In 2009, I attended a Sahiya training, and I became familiar with this method. Being a social worker, I joined the work to inform women about it. I have been working as a Sahiya for a few years, but much has changed between then and now. Before I was a Sahiya, I was unable to connect with the people. I used to carry out activities which were assigned by the government only or activities for which I used to receive money. One day there was a meeting in our village, and I heard words like “family planning” and “monthly period.” I was very surprised to hear these words in the village, but I stayed and listened to that meeting. People there were writing something, and there were songs playing. I even sang with them. After some time, my name was