Ten years ago, when 62-year-old Devanti Devi of Tilak Rai ka Hatha, a small village on the banks of the Ganges in Buxar district developed a couple of hard spots on her hands, she thought they would go away on their own.

43-year-old Rubi Singh is a familiar sight around water sources in the villages of Bhagalpur and Buxar in Bihar. A project worker with WaterAid India, her role is to generate awareness about clean drinking water in these communities.

“When I look around me, I see girls feeling freer than they used to feel before,” says Kesang Lama, a part-time schoolteacher and peer educator.

Sheela’s pads reflect the compassion she has for her fellow women. They are soft, reusable and have quaint prints.

"I feel my biggest job has been to normalise talking about menstruation and reproductive health problems in my community!”

39-year-old Pramit Subba recalls the nightmare of managing his household sewage himself and how things changed for his family.

“It was tough but I realised how important this work was,” says 39-year-old construction and masonry worker Simon Rai.

The bio digester pit will ensure that not only I, but they will also be free from the tension of digging soak pits and worrying about sewage disposal.