How we got here.
2019
The first Her Shakti Centre is opened
In February, our co-founders from Edinburgh come to Jaipur to help Ishu recruit 10-12 Beneficiaries for the new Her Shakti Centre as well as meeting with local government ministers and setting up extra curricular classes for the beneficiaries personal growth. We began community outreach in the slums of Jaipur and began to sell our pads at markets across the city.
2020
Period pad donation drives during lockdown
The pandemic took a huge toll on Sanitree, forcing production to a halt but we new that our message of reducing period poverty and stigma was more important now than ever so we continued to carry out donation drives throughout lockdown. It wasn’t the only headline this year though as Scotland passed the free period products provision bill in November which made us the first country in the world to make period products accessible to all! The Sanitree Team are very proud to have been at the forefront of the campaign alongside Monica Lennon.
2021
Sanitree at Cop26
The first half of the year saw the continuation of lockdowns so much of our work moved online. We organised the first international advocacy week to end period poverty and the first ‘Roundtable of Legislative Champions for Period Dignity,’ which both hosted speakers from across the world. The Discussion was moderated by Director of Period Equity, Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, focusing on effective forms of public activism, prioritizing menstrual equity in the legislative agenda and how to make legislative bodies act on period equity. We also began our monthly webinar titled ‘that time of the month’.
In the Autumn, Sanitree underwent some significant changes. In Jaipur, the Her Shakti Centre relocated and production began for the first time since the pandemic began where we hired new beneficiaries. In Edinburgh, the newly formed team began to work and meet regularly, organising fundraising events and attending COP26 in November.
2022
Our beneficiaries celebrating Holi for first time since the pandemic
Only part way into the year, already it was some of our busiest months to date! Our new pads were launched in India and debuted at the Jaipur Literature Festival, where Sanitree hosted a stall. International Women’s Day involved a donation drive to a local school sponsored by a local influencer as well as a surprise dinner for our beneficiaries at the Bagh Fort to celebrate and honour their work. Our Director Ishu was invited to speak at the Menstrual Management Summit in Chennai where she had previously attended as a guest.
Over the summer, we recruited more members to join our student team in Edinburgh and spent time preparing for what was set to be a busy semester of birthday celebrations…
Sanitree’s 5th Birthday!
2017-2022
2023
A big milestone for a small social enterprise! We are so so proud of everything we have achieved despite the difficulties and set-backs and our celebrations have been full of joy! In Edinburgh, these have involved fundraising events such as our club night Heavy Flow in addition to promotion of our achievements on social media! We recently presented Ishu with a birthday card handmade by our Graphic Designer with notes of appreciation from all of the Edinburgh Team!