Rising Woman: Voyage Of A Local Woman To End Menstruation Taboo
We have come a long way in terms of technology and development, but topics like menstruation still remain a taboo in the society. According to the International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health (IJCMPH), menstrual hygiene is of great concern among large proportion of rural women in India. This is because young girls and women still face difficulty to access basic sanitary products. In order to get rid of the taboo surrounding menstruation and to raise awareness about menstrual hygiene, Shidalin Marbaniang has introduced ‘Syntu Sanitary pads’
Started on 14th June 2019, Syntu had only two members and it was quite difficult for them to meet the demands of manufacturing pads.
“At first I partnered with schools and few NRLMs and I started to meet their demands with a workforce of only two people. I also started training other female workers, and finally with a team of 9 members, we started manufacturing sanitary napkins.” Shidalin Marbaniang said.
After few months of Syntu’s successful operation, Covid-19 hit the entire world and so their business was paused for 2 months. Within these months, she planned her next step to fuel up her business. Shiadalin decided to go for her first launch; where she invited schools, self-help groups and voluntary organizations and conducted a self-awareness programme and a one time sale.
“In order to promote ourselves, we visited various schools and offices and this journey was not easy. There were many people who were not ready to accept us, but this did not dishearten me and my team.” Shidalin Marbaniang added.
Feedbacks are important for any successful business; when the product was first launched, she received various feedbacks from her customers. While some of her customers were very happy with the purchase, there were few customers who were complaining about the thin layer of the sanitary pads, to which Shidalin said,
She said “The layer of the sanitary napkin is made thin because of health reasons. If the pads are made thick, it would be used for a longer time that can cause some serious infections. And, this is the reason it has thin layers so that women can change it after 6-7 hours.”
On being asked about her future plans, Shidalin wishes to expand her market reach so that she can not only help the women in her village but contribute to society by reaching to more women who are in need of the products.
“I want to spread awareness about menstrual hygiene to all women, especially to the school going girls who tend to drop out of school due to lack of knowledge and negligence. I want to promote education and improve their menstrual health,” Shidalin added.
Leave a Reply