In another installment of Oshwal heroes, we have an inspiring woman named Madhvi Dalal, a pharmacist, yoga teacher and activist, traveling across Kenya, where one million girls miss school each month because they cannot afford sanitary pads. Not only are they ostracized when they have their period, but with the lack of money, the issue gets even more serious. Due to the lack of resources, many use mattresses, cow dung or leaves as pads. Many of the girls miss school during this time and some resort to prostitution to obtain money to buy them
Madhvi is an inspiring Oshwal who has done a lot to help with this issue. She has been teaching yoga and meditation in the Kenyan slums for the past 5 years. As she got friendly with some of the girls she was teaching, she found out about their terrible predicament and that they were having transactional sex to obtain money to buy pads, as that is the only way they can afford them. Madhvi was struck by these girls’ stories and decided to help them and do something about the situation. So she embarked on a journey to make reusable cotton pads that could be washed. She has just launched the product.
Madhvi spends a lot of her time travelling and educating young people about menstruation and SRHR, in schools and the underprivileged communities across Kenya. The one stipulation she has is that boys and/or men have to be present at these meetings and she has found that there has been a lot of positive feedback from this and this has helped to remove the stigma that has been associated with periods. There is a lot of work still left to do. Making them accessible and acceptable is a tough task that she has taken on.
Madhvi is committed to empowering women by improving their health through environmentally responsible action and entrepreneurship. Through education, empowerment and sustainability, she continues her inspiring work towards ending period poverty.
You can check out some of Madhvi’s work in the links below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l20Hh7zp6S4&feature=youtu.be
https://padmadkenya.com/?v=518f4a738816