Menstrual hygiene champ Hibi Eden shares ‘Cup of Life’ story at TedX-NUALS

Kochi: Hibi Eden, Ernakulam MP, was all proud on Saturday when he presented himself to a youthful audience as a 'male parliamentarian who can make the C folds and butterfly folds and whatnot with a menstrual cup.' Eden was at his eloquent best when he narrated the story of his ‘Cup of Life’ project, which entered the Guinness Book of World Records as one of the largest menstrual hygiene programmes.

As many as one lakh menstrual cups were distributed for free in 24 hours in Kochi on August 31, 2022 as part of the MP’s initiative, supported by the Indian Medical Association and Muthoot Finance.

Eden relived his ‘Cup of Life’ days – which he termed a 'bloody revolution' – at the TedX-NUALS 2024 - Musings in Twilight, hosted by the National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS), Kalamassery, Kochi. He was the first speaker of the event with a line-up of 13 from diverse areas.

Eden said he started with the idea of a menstrual hygiene project as he always believed that development works should not be confined to infrastructure alone. He credited his wife Anna Linda for triggering him to do ‘something out of the box’. When it comes to menstrual hygiene, Eden did not start with the Cup of Life project. His first initiative in the field was to install sanitary pad vending machines in government schools in his constituency from which the needy can pick pads for just Re 1.

“When my wife told me that I should do something out of the box, we crafted this project called breaking barriers in government schools. We made sure that everybody who has a Re 1 coin gets a sanitary napkin. And that sanitary napkin would be not just for the students, but it should be kept in an open place so that boys can see, other people can see. And there is a message in that. When you dispose of sanitary napkin in your school, especially in a government school, if it is dropped in the closet, the entire system gets clogged.

“And in government schools, you know, it takes weeks and months to repair the entire system. So we made sure that there is an incinerator as well kept at the restroom or in the toilet or in the ladies room,” he remembered. The project started in 25 government schools found its way to 150, including government-aided institutes later. He explained the context recalling his own school and college days when sanitary napkins were always referred to as the ‘secret bread packets’.

Eden said it was actor Parvathy Thiruvoth who seeded in him the idea of a project based on menstrual cups, the alternate menstrual hygiene method gaining popularity across the world.

“The entire project was to have a proper campaign whereby people understand the impact of using a menstrual cup which had a lot of impact in the future. With the napkins millions of menstruating persons use, the amount of waste generated would be humongous, which can be reduced by the cup,” he said. He also mentioned the follow-up actions including campaigns involving Kudumbashree and ASHA workers, awareness sessions for elderly people and the menstrual pain simulation events held to sensitise young men.

“Menstruation is a part of our collective human history, experience and legacy. Let's break the barriers and take forward this bloody revolution,” he said.