Swaniti Initiative, in collaboration with Paint it Red and Anahat for Change Foundation organized a week long participatory workshop on Menstrual Hygiene Management and Sanitary Pad Production for 40 women in Hamirpur. This workshop served as a stepping stone to initiate green entrepreneurship in the district by training women to make reusable sanitary pads and setting up an independent and self-regulating production unit.
The aim of the production unit would be to include women entrepreneurs who use their superior sewing skills to create quality cloth pads creating access to sustainable menstrual care products in Hamirpur, with a long-term goal of scaling up in the entire state. Over the six days of training the women learnt skills like marketing, packaging, billing, vendor management, stockroom management in addition to making three innovative designs of cloth pads.
There has been a substantial impact from the training of these women. They managed to make a sale of Rs 12,000 through Sujanpur holi Mela in just a week post the workshop. These women also managed to procure an order of 3000 sustainable sanitary pads. Their outreach and planning have also helped them in collaboration talks with other organizations such as Mitti ki Rang and Himalayan Hemp, for continued demand and supply of the sustainable sanitary pads.
This workshop also focuses on all the three tangents that Swaniti focuses on: Awareness, Access and Inclusion. It has led to an increased Awareness about the importance of Eco-friendly products and sensitized women about the importance of menstrual pads.