Saathi is empowering women all over India to improve their lives and communities through eco-friendly, locally manufactured sanitary pads.

The Problem

 

A silent malady is crippling over 200 million women living in rural India.  These women, aged between 12 and 47, are precluded from freely engaging in and contributing to their communities simply because they lack access to affordable sanitary protection. The implications are real – every year, many of these rural girls and women miss up to 50 days of work or school.  Many school age girls either fall behind or drop out of school entirely.  Along with economic challenges, cultural stigmas prevent many women from easily accessing safe sanitary protection, especially in the most rural Indian communities. More alarmingly, many of these women resort to using less hygienic alternatives such as rags to meet their need for sanitary protection, risking infection. Rudimentary forms of sanitary protection can lead to serious infections. This problem is not limited to India but is global problem that affects women in many parts of the world.

 

Additionally, in rural areas, disposal of sanitary pads is a huge issue. Those few women in rural areas who do occasionally use sanitary pads dispose of them by burning or burying them, since there are no other options. This leaves them exposed to the toxic chemicals in the pad materials, which poison the environment and have adverse health risks.

 

The three main barries to rural women using pads are:

 

Affordability: Current sanitary pads in the market are not affordable.

Availabilty: Multinations do not have viable distribution channels in rural parts of the world.

Awareness: Many rural women are uneducated about the benefits of proper  feminine hygiene practices.

 

 

The Saathi Solution

 

In order to address this pressing healthcare issue, Saathi has developed a small scale manufacturing process to produce fully biodegradable sanitary pads from waste banana tree fiber.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To manufacture these biodegradable pads, Saathi has developed a small scale, modular manufacturing solution. The Saathi machine, which is actually an integrated chain of individual modules working together, takes inputs of the absorbent fiber pulp and biodegradable outer layers and outputs a folded, sterilized sanitary pad complete with wings and adhesives for undergarment attachments.

 

Saathi is targeting women and girls in both urban and rural India. In urban areas, we will sell pads at a higher price to subsidize the cost of pads sold in rural areas. Saathi will have manufacturing centers in both urban and rural areas within India and will emply low-income women to work in the manufacturing centers.

 

Saathi’s dream is to provide affordable, accessible, eco-friendly sanitary pads to women all over rural India. With Saathi pads, more girls will be able to stay in school, get the education they always dreamt of and reach their full potential. ... read more on social.yourstory.com